A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.4286.

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 15,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $67.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.09 and a 200 day moving average of $68.39. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $83.20.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.