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

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 1st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of 3.00 per share by the construction company on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This is a 11.1% increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.70.

Watsco has raised its dividend by an average of 11.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Watsco has a payout ratio of 66.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Watsco to earn $16.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $10.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.3%.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $520.95 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $496.79 and its 200-day moving average is $499.41. Watsco has a 52 week low of $396.82 and a 52 week high of $571.42. The company has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a PE ratio of 39.32 and a beta of 1.00.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 17.59%. On average, analysts forecast that Watsco will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WSO shares. Loop Capital raised their price target on Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James started coverage on Watsco in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.25.

Watsco Company Profile

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.