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

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.67.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth approximately $108,176,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 71.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,173,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,716,000 after acquiring an additional 487,742 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after acquiring an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,257,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $103,693,000 after purchasing an additional 317,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $22,288,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock opened at $77.84 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $64.14 and a 1-year 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. The firm has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.07.

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

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.16%.

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.