A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) to Issue $0.36 Quarterly Dividend

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.36 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, May 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th.

A. O. Smith has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 31 years. A. O. Smith has a payout ratio of 34.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect A. O. Smith to earn $4.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of AOS stock opened at $67.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.60. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $61.35 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $912.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AOS. Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.67.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.