A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Sets New 52-Week High at $76.98

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $76.98 and last traded at $76.57, with a volume of 113270 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $76.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.10. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.11. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 30.76%. The firm had revenue of $937.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $910.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 30th. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.00%.

Insider Activity

In other A. O. Smith news, VP James F. Stern sold 8,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $592,614.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 120,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,760,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP James F. Stern sold 8,118 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $592,614.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 120,000 shares in the company, valued at $8,760,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Wheeler sold 12,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $892,435.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 71,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,937,378.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 142,942 shares of company stock valued at $10,297,592. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after buying an additional 6,288 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 4.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,145,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,218,000 after acquiring an additional 20,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.48% of the company’s stock.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas, heat pump and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. It operates through two segments, North America and Rest of World. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; commercial boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as residential boilers for homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, on-the-go filtration bottles, point-of-use carbon, and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.