A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives $76.17 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.17.

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, May 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $339,124,000 after buying an additional 2,086,433 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $96,180,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 998.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,121,000 after buying an additional 1,225,521 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth $74,180,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $69.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.48. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $92.45. The stock has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $950.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.99%.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.