A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $67.41 and last traded at $67.59, with a volume of 66785 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.42 and its 200-day moving average is $79.68.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 35.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

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