Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $2.70

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 1st, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th will be given a dividend of 2.70 per share by the construction company on Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 16th.

Watsco has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Watsco has a dividend payout ratio of 70.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Watsco to earn $15.52 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 69.6%.

Watsco Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of WSO stock opened at $491.58 on Monday. Watsco has a fifty-two week low of $338.58 and a fifty-two week high of $520.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 3.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $478.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $470.27. The company has a market cap of $19.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.81 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.70 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Watsco will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on WSO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

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.