Stifel Nicolaus Cuts A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $90.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $91.00 to $90.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on AOS. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $72.48 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $70.73 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.60. The firm has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.16. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. State Street Corp raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 11.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,387,000 after acquiring an additional 72,856 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.