A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.71.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AOS. DA Davidson lowered 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. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $73.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.81 and a 200 day moving average of $81.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $70.73 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.17.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.