A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• A. O. Smith Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from seven analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $77.43.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.07, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.97, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 1.3%.
• A. O. Smith recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 37.88%.

Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.4286.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,670,000 after acquiring an additional 15,769 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 41.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,089 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 75.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,039 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,277,000 after acquiring an additional 173,366 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 18.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $73.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.36 and a 200 day moving average of $67.72. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The firm's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.88%.

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.

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