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

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.67.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AOS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $85.15 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $84.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.81. The company has a market capitalization of $12.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $63.88 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.59.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $985.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 34.59%.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 in the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 21.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,288 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.2% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,145,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,218,000 after buying an additional 20,616 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.