A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives $89.67 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.67.

AOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $87.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.10. The stock has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $65.08 and a 52 week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,212,000 after purchasing an additional 22,859 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 623,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,390,000 after purchasing an additional 168,911 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth $228,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 79,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,519,000 after purchasing an additional 22,483 shares during the period. Finally, Cim LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $3,165,000. 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.