Watsco, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $3.00 (NYSE:WSO)

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 1st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 16th will be given a dividend of 3.00 per share by the construction company on Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%.

Watsco has a payout ratio of 77.6% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings fall. Equities analysts expect Watsco to earn $16.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $12.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 74.8%.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO traded up $0.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $457.32. 114,251 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 259,485. The company has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco has a 1 year low of $418.31 and a 1 year high of $571.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $452.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $477.75.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.36). Watsco had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 6.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.17 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Watsco will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Watsco stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,927 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Watsco were worth $3,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WSO. Morgan Stanley set a $505.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Watsco from $560.00 to $540.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $490.00 target price on Watsco in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Watsco from $445.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $484.17.

About Watsco

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.