A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) PT Lowered to $91.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its target price lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $92.00 to $91.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.2 %

AOS stock opened at $77.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $65.08 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $82.59 and a 200-day moving average of $83.48.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 32.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted 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. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,387,000 after purchasing an additional 72,856 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,962,000 after purchasing an additional 66,933 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,988,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.