A. O. Smith’s (AOS) “Hold (C)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reissued their hold (c) rating on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) in a report published on Saturday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $66.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $64.55 and a 52-week high of $92.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.67 and its 200 day moving average is $73.23.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $82,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.