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

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.67.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $81.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $64.14 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.34. The stock has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 11,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. American Trust purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter valued at about $739,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 129,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,422,000 after buying an additional 17,511 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter valued at about $675,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 222.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,259,000 after buying an additional 17,411 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.