A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.86.

Several brokerages recently commented on AOS. Citigroup reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $96,180,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,467,000 after buying an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 242.8% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,787,000 after buying an additional 444,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $65.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.82. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $64.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. 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 company has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing 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%. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

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.