A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.34

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, October 7th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

A. O. Smith has raised its dividend by an average of 7.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 30 consecutive years. A. O. Smith has a payout ratio of 29.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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

NYSE:AOS traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $88.15. 629,611 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 941,716. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $65.08 and a one year high of $92.44. The firm has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AOS. UBS Group lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.