Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $3.00

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of 3.00 per share by the construction company on Friday, January 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th.

Watsco has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Watsco has a payout ratio of 77.6% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Watsco to earn $16.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $12.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 74.8%.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSO traded up $10.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $347.37. 292,458 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 390,690. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $348.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $394.69. Watsco has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $535.40. The firm has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.14 and a beta of 1.03.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Watsco will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Company Profile

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.