A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Receives $77.43 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, 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 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.4286.

Several analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% during the first 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 period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the first 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. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.5% during the first 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 period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,500,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $163,940,000 after purchasing an additional 79,696 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 54.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,080,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,405,000 after purchasing an additional 732,041 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AOS opened at $69.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.30. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $80.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.48.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. 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.