StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Loop Capital downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Finally, TheStreet lowered A. O. Smith from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $64.00.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $65.47 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.75. The company has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.65, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.27. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $46.58 and a 12-month high of $71.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $936.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $913.51 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 27.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 39,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $2,776,882.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,196 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,699.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.65, for a total transaction of $278,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,376.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 39,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $2,776,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,196 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,699.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,883 shares of company stock valued at $4,053,126 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 88,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,082,000 after buying an additional 9,463 shares during the period. Natixis increased its position in A. O. Smith by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 198,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,377,000 after purchasing an additional 49,743 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 14,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at about $425,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 896,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,312,000 after purchasing an additional 57,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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A. O. Smith Corp. manufactures residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products. It operates through the North America and Rest of World segments. The North America segment manufactures and markets comprehensive lines of residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, and tanks.