A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.86.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target 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 reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $66.39 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith has a 12 month low of $64.55 and a 12 month high of $92.45. 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 company has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.23.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 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 $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,972,000 after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $730,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 124.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 3,712 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.