A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $63.02 and last traded at $63.63, with a volume of 104260 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $66.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer decreased 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.60 and its 200-day moving average is $72.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth approximately $120,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently 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.