Watsco (NYSE:WSO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.24 EPS

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24, Zacks reports. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 6.99%.

Watsco Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of WSO stock opened at $485.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.50 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $484.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $491.17. Watsco has a 12-month low of $373.33 and a 12-month high of $571.41.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 83.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on Watsco in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $488.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total value of $5,589,293.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 12.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.