Stifel Nicolaus Cuts A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $84.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AOS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer raised A. O. Smith from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $67.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.20. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $65.53 and a 1 year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $1,372,000. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $730,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 89.3% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 36,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,252,000 after buying an additional 17,079 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by 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.