A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.17.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AOS. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, May 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $339,124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086,433 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $96,180,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 998.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $88,121,000 after buying an additional 1,225,521 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter valued at $74,180,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $64.41 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.72. The company has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The business had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.

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