A. O. Smith’s (AOS) Hold (C) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reissued their hold (c) rating on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on AOS. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $59.65 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.91. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $59.12 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 stock has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 9,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently 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.