A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives $88.43 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.43.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS stock traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $89.02. The company had a trading volume of 822,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,576. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.83 and a 200-day moving average of $83.65. The company has a market capitalization of $13.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $64.14 and a 12-month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The business had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 29.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.5% in the second quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Atwater Malick LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.1% in the second quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 110,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at about $232,000. 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.