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

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $90.67.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $84.14 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $64.14 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $84.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SRN Advisors LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 5.1% in the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 11,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. American Trust acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter valued at $739,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 129,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,422,000 after buying an additional 17,511 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter worth $675,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 222.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,259,000 after buying an additional 17,411 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.