A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives $80.86 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.86.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on 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, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $68.21 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average price is $67.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.59. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $64.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The company has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

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

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders 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 1.99%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

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

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 7,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.