A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.17.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,404,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $941,462,000 after purchasing an additional 286,316 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,011,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,551,000 after purchasing an additional 307,201 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,751,000 after purchasing an additional 111,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $178,587,000 after purchasing an additional 417,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.0%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $64.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.67 and its 200 day moving average is $67.51. The company has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

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.