A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $59.12 and last traded at $59.65, with a volume of 2144086 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $60.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.72 and its 200-day moving average is $71.54. The stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 180.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 125,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,263,000 after acquiring an additional 80,632 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 72.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 61,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,501,000 after buying an additional 28,045 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $524,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.