A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.17.

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE AOS traded down $0.31 on Friday, hitting $65.43. 1,170,852 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,256,595. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.45.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

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

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.