Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Announces Dividend Increase – $3.00 Per Share

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 1st, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given 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 dividend yield of 2.36%. This is a 11.1% increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.70.

Watsco has increased its dividend payment 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% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 WSO opened at $509.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $496.37 and its 200 day moving average is $499.01. Watsco has a fifty-two week low of $396.82 and a fifty-two week high of $571.42.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 17.59%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WSO. Raymond James began coverage on Watsco in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.