The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $61.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $69.00 to $61.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sell rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AOS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 price target on A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.89.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 5.4%

NYSE AOS opened at $63.35 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.52. A. O. Smith has a 12 month low of $61.35 and a 12 month high of $81.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $912.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.51% and a net margin of 14.26%.A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,732.39. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,009,622,000 after acquiring an additional 683,176 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,911,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $395,361,000 after acquiring an additional 458,257 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,850,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $356,050,000 after acquiring an additional 157,856 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,559,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $304,947,000 after acquiring an additional 37,621 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $235,560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.