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

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.86.

AOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $515,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $467,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 3,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Cim LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 41,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $10,146,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $65.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.29 and its 200-day moving average is $72.95. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $64.55 and a 1 year high of $92.45. The stock has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. Equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

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.