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

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.4286.

Several research firms recently issued reports on AOS. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $339,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth about $91,939,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 998.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,521 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 655.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 710,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,602,000 after purchasing an additional 616,638 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 521.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 581,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,101,000 after purchasing an additional 487,513 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.6%

AOS stock opened at $69.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $81.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.43. The firm has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.30.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.88%.

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.