A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $71.04 and last traded at $71.14, with a volume of 34055 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $72.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

The company's 50 day moving average price is $80.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.06. The stock has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $78,766,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 92.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,397,000 after purchasing an additional 365,710 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at $22,288,000. 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.