A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Reaches New 1-Year High After Strong Earnings

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $68.22 and last traded at $68.00, with a volume of 1978250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.68.

The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AOS. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $339,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,180,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth about $74,180,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 995,043 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,467,000 after buying an additional 471,990 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $65.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.32. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55.

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.