A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $71.04 and last traded at $71.14, with a volume of 34055 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 1,713 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 59,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,334,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,348,000 after purchasing an additional 52,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 253 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.