A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Receives $76.71 Average PT from Brokerages

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.7143.

Several research firms have recently commented on AOS. Wall Street Zen raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $66.00 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $77.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.74.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business had revenue of $942.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.33 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. A. O. Smith’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 38.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at $91,939,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 998.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,521 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 655.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 710,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,602,000 after buying an additional 616,638 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 530.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 633,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,498,000 after acquiring an additional 532,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 521.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 581,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,101,000 after purchasing an additional 487,513 shares during the period. 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.