Watsco, Inc. (WSO) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $3.00 on January 30th

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date 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 annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Watsco has a payout ratio of 77.6% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Research 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

NYSE WSO opened at $374.08 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $347.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $390.51. Watsco has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $535.40. The company has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.22 and a beta of 1.03.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. On average, analysts forecast that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Watsco

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.