MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2016--
Watsco, Inc. (NYSE: WSO) announced today that its Board of Directors has
declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $1.05 on each outstanding
share of its Common and Class B common stock. This represents a 24%
increase in the quarterly dividend rate versus a year ago. The cash
dividend is payable on October 31, 2016 to shareholders of record at the
close of business on October 17, 2016.
Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco’s Chairman & CEO stated: “We are pleased to be
able to increase dividends to our shareholders. This latest increase
reflects our confidence in the business and is supported by our
continued positive cash flow and our 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.
Watsco improves indoor living and working environments with air
conditioning and heating solutions that provide comfort regardless of
the outdoor climate. There are approximately 89 million central air
conditioning and heating systems installed in the United States that
have been in service for 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 our 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 through one of its 563 locations
in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico, and on an export
basis to Latin America and the Caribbean. This network has been built
over the last 25 years and serves 88,000 active customers. Watsco is
developing and investing in technologies to enable sales via e-commerce,
on-line marketplaces and through the retail sales channel. As the
industry leader, we believe that significant growth potential remains
given that the marketplace for HVAC/R products at the consumer level is
estimated to be $80 billion annually. Additional information about
Watsco may be found at http://www.watsco.com.
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Source: Watsco, Inc.
Watsco, Inc.
Barry S. Logan, 305-714-4102
Senior Vice President
blogan@watsco.com
www.watsco.com