A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

AOS has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the company from $67.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. UBS Group downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a neutral rating to a sell rating and decreased their price target for the company from $65.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $64.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $65.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.75. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $46.58 and a fifty-two week high of $71.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.75. The company has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a PE ratio of 43.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.27.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $936.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $913.51 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 27.54%. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.00%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, SVP Daniel L. Kempken sold 2,500 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.35, for a total transaction of $170,875.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,312.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 39,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $2,776,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 39,196 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,699.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel L. Kempken sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.35, for a total transaction of $170,875.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,344 shares in the company, valued at $570,312.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,883 shares of company stock valued at $4,053,126 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kepos Capital LP increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.3% during the third quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 3,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 34,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 5,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

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.