Robert W. Baird Raises A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $92.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective upped by Robert W. Baird from $86.00 to $92.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $83.15 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $63.88 and a one year high of $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in A. O. Smith by 393.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 7,033 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 55,605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 22,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Finally, TriaGen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at $784,000. 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.