A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 3.900-4.150 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 4.080. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.0 billion-$4.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.0 billion.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $87.00 on Thursday. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $63.88 and a 52-week high of $89.96. The company has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.62 and its 200 day moving average is $79.73.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $985.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,929.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.