A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

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

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AOS shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd.

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A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock traded down $1.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.59. The company had a trading volume of 762,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,080,691. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $67.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.99. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $64.55 and a 52 week high of $92.45.

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

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the business'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 $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,765 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,785 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

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.