Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Declares $3.30 Quarterly Dividend

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a dividend of 3.30 per share by the construction company on Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th.

Watsco has increased 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 dividend payout ratio of 85.3% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities research analysts expect Watsco to earn $13.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $13.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 95.1%.

Watsco Stock Down 2.3%

WSO opened at $407.27 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $400.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $389.18. Watsco has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $494.94. The company has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Watsco will post 12.66 EPS for the current 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.