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

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.86.

Several brokerages have weighed in on AOS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,180,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,467,000 after purchasing an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 242.8% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,787,000 after purchasing an additional 444,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $178,587,000 after purchasing an additional 417,595 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of AOS opened at $66.98 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $64.55 and a 1 year high of $92.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

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.