A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.32

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 8th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st.

A. O. Smith has increased its dividend by an average of 7.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 30 consecutive years. A. O. Smith has a payout ratio of 29.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect A. O. Smith to earn $4.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.3%.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $84.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.90. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $64.14 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.