Analysts Set A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) PT at $83.17

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.17.

AOS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup dropped 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. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.7 %

AOS opened at $68.44 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $68.38 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.82 and its 200 day moving average is $80.25. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 35.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at $78,766,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after acquiring an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,397,000 after acquiring an additional 365,710 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth about $24,060,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.