A. O. Smith's (AOS) "Hold (C)" Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their hold (c) rating on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in a report issued on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of 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 reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $80.86.

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A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.98. 764,712 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,026,310. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.12. The company has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $64.55 and a 1 year high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 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 $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 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 $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $515,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $467,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 3,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 41,174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,146,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

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.