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

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.67.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $84.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $85.97 and its 200-day moving average is $80.22. The company has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.27. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $63.88 and a 52-week high of $89.96.

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. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 over the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 628.0% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in A. O. Smith by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter worth $109,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.