Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Raises Dividend to $3.00 Per Share

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 1st, RTT News reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. 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. 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 Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $509.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $496.37 and a 200 day moving average of $499.01. The company has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45 and a beta of 0.92. Watsco has a 12-month low of $396.82 and a 12-month high of $571.42.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.75 billion during 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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