A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.86.

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

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A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE AOS traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 608,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,399,618. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $64.55 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $68.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.47%.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $268,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $3,123,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,936 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $256,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.