Zacks Research Has Weak Estimate for A. O. Smith Q4 Earnings

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) – Research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for shares of A. O. Smith in a research report issued on Wednesday, December 11th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the industrial products company will earn $0.88 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.90. The consensus estimate for A. O. Smith’s current full-year earnings is $3.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for A. O. Smith’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.96 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.08 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.91 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.94 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.04 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.17 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.04 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.35 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AOS. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $72.48 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $70.73 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after acquiring an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,055,000 after acquiring an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after purchasing an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,458 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,387,000 after purchasing an additional 72,856 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

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

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.