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

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.67.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $81.96 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $64.14 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96. The stock has a market cap of $12.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 665.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 188.9% in the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.