A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $89.67.

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 3.1 %

AOS stock opened at $77.84 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $64.14 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.65 and its 200-day moving average is $84.07. The firm has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 33.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at 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. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 157.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 665.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 188.9% during the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.