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 - Free Report) in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

AOS has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.19. 1,263,832 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,518,397. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $64.94 and a 1 year high of $92.44. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.56.

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

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $78,766,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $112,467,000 after purchasing an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $68,397,000 after purchasing an additional 365,710 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,060,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.