A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.17.

AOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.2 %

A. O. Smith stock opened at $72.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.58. A. O. Smith has a 12 month low of $70.73 and a 12 month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% 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.