Zacks Research Reduces Earnings Estimates for A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research reduced their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of A. O. Smith in a report issued on Wednesday, December 11th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the industrial products company will earn $3.76 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $3.78. The consensus estimate for A. O. Smith’s current full-year earnings is $3.77 per share.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $70.81 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $70.73 and a 1 year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after acquiring an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after acquiring an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,387,000 after purchasing an additional 72,856 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.