A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives $80.86 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.86.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $65.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $64.94 and a 12-month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,372,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $730,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 89.3% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 36,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,252,000 after acquiring an additional 17,079 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.