A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Posts Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $77.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $65.08 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.48.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 33.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded 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 note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

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.