A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives $80.86 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.86.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AOS. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $65.61 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $64.55 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The company has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.65.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. Research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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 $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.