A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives $86.71 Average Target Price from Analysts

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.71.

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $77.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $67.96 and a 52-week 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 1.02.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 33.68%.

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.