A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

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%.

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.4286.

A number of analysts have commented on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.0%

AOS stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.06. The company had a trading volume of 2,025,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,007,065. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.90. A. O. Smith has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.06. The stock has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its 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. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 107.7% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 2,907 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 139.8% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 60,963 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,158,000 after acquiring an additional 35,538 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 82.2% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 151,182 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,312,000 after acquiring an additional 68,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 162.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 58,489 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,990,000 after acquiring an additional 36,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.