A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives $67.13 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.13.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet raised A. O. Smith from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Benjamin A. Otchere sold 4,285 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $299,950.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 547 shares in the company, valued at $38,290. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael M. Larsen purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.89 per share, for a total transaction of $267,560.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,218.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Benjamin A. Otchere sold 4,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $299,950.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 547 shares in the company, valued at $38,290. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,167,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,740,000 after purchasing an additional 83,105 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 330,812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,875,000 after purchasing an additional 30,407 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $334,000. 77.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $68.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.16, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.27. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $46.58 and a 1 year high of $71.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.87.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $966.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $922.05 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.78% and a net margin of 6.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 75.95%.

About A. O. Smith

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A. O. Smith Corp. manufactures residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products. It operates through the North America and Rest of World segments. The North America segment manufactures and markets comprehensive lines of residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, and tanks.