A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target Lowered to $84.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) had its price target cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the industrial products company's stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AOS. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on 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. Oppenheimer raised A. O. Smith from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.0 %

AOS stock traded down $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $65.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,999,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,660. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $70.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $65.53 and a twelve month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth $1,372,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $730,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $321,348,000 after purchasing an additional 52,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 89.3% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 36,206 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,252,000 after purchasing an additional 17,079 shares in the last quarter. 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.