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

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.71.

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE AOS opened at $76.87 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $65.20 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.48 and a 200 day moving average of $83.37.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,055,000 after buying an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,387,000 after acquiring an additional 72,856 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,962,000 after acquiring an additional 66,933 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,890 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,988,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.