Watsco, Inc. (WSO) To Go Ex-Dividend on July 16th

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 1st, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th will be given a dividend of 2.70 per share by the construction company on Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 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 68.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Watsco to earn $16.10 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 67.1%.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO opened at $477.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.70 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $471.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $430.51. Watsco has a 52-week low of $337.58 and a 52-week high of $493.65.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 19.26%. Watsco’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.83 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Watsco will post 14.26 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Watsco news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total transaction of $366,759.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $838,714.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Watsco news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total transaction of $366,759.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $838,714.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Alexander Macdonald sold 5,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.41, for a total transaction of $2,487,830.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $404.25.

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.