Watsco Boosts Annual Dividend 16% to $5.80 Per Share
February 08 2018 - 7:30AM
Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) announced today that its Board of
Directors has approved a 16% increase in its annual dividend
to $5.80 per share on each outstanding share of its
Common and Class B common stock. The increase will be reflected in
the Company’s next regular dividend payment beginning in April
2018.
Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco’s Chairman & CEO
stated: “We are pleased to be able to increase dividends to our
shareholders and reflects our confidence in the business and is
supported by our continued positive cash flow and strong balance
sheet.”
Watsco has paid dividends to shareholders
for more than 40 consecutive years. The Company’s philosophy is to
share increasing amounts of cash flow through higher dividends
while maintaining a conservative balance sheet with continued
capacity to build its distribution network. Future changes in
dividends are considered in light of investment opportunities, cash
flow, general economic conditions and Watsco’s overall financial
condition.
About Watsco
Watsco provides comfort to homes and businesses
regardless of the outdoor climate. There are approximately 92
million central air conditioning and heating systems installed in
the United States that have been in service more than 10 years.
Older systems often operate below today’s government mandated
energy efficiency and environmental standards. Watsco has an
opportunity to accelerate the replacement of these systems at a
scale greater than its competitors as the movement toward reducing
energy consumption and its environmental impact continues. This is
especially important since heating and cooling accounts for
approximately half of the energy consumed in a typical U.S.
home.
Watsco’s traditional sales channel is the
industry’s largest and currently serves 88,000 contractor
businesses through 560 locations in the United States, Canada,
Mexico and Puerto Rico, and on an export basis to Latin America and
the Caribbean. Watsco is a technology company, operating scalable
platforms for mobile apps, e-commerce, business intelligence and
supply chain. Strategic goals are to accelerate sales and profit
growth, increase the speed and convenience of serving customers and
to extend its reach into new geographies and sales channels. Watsco
is also developing technologies to address the evolving buying
habits of consumers in the digital economy. Over the long-term,
Watsco believes its focus, scale and innovative culture offer
significant advantages to address the consumer market, which is
estimated to be $88 billion annually. Additional information about
Watsco may be found at http://www.watsco.com.
This document includes certain “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by
the use of words such as “will,” “would,” “anticipate,” “expect,”
“believe,” “plan,” “optimistic,” “goal” or “intend,” the negative
of these terms and similar references to future periods. These
statements are based on management's current expectations and are
subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results
may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in
economic, business, competitive market, new housing starts and
completions, capital spending in commercial construction, consumer
spending and debt levels, regulatory and other factors, including,
without limitation, the effects of supplier concentration,
competitive conditions within Watsco’s industry, seasonal nature of
sales of Watsco’s products, the ability of the Company to expand
its business, insurance coverage risks and final GAAP adjustments.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statement
was made. Watsco assumes no obligation to update forward-looking
information to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or
changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information,
except as required by applicable law. Detailed information about
these factors and additional important factors can be found in the
documents that Watsco files with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, such as Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.
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Watsco,
Inc. |
Barry S. Logan |
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2665 S.
Bayshore Drive, Suite 901 |
Senior Vice
President |
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Miami,
Florida 33133, USA |
(305) 714-4102 |
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(305)
714-4100 |
e-mail:
blogan@watsco.com |
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Fax:
(305) 858-4492 |
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www.watsco.com |
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