Brokerages Set A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Price Target at $76.50

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.50.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

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 that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 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 value of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $962,985,000 after buying an additional 148,432 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 worth $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,751,000 after purchasing an additional 111,612 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,587,000 after purchasing an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $166,728,000 after purchasing an additional 236,880 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $61.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.20. The company has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its 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 return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. Analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

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.