A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) PT Raised to $75.00 at UBS Group

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $73.00 to $75.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sell rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of 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 upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $88.43.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $86.08 on Monday. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $64.14 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.43 and its 200-day moving average is $83.40.

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

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,258,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 623,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,390,000 after buying an additional 168,911 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,047,000. Cim LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,165,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 79,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,519,000 after acquiring an additional 22,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.