Analysts Set A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Price Target at $77.43

Key Points

• A. O. Smith Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with five holding and two buying the stock; the average price target is $77.43.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%.
• A. O. Smith's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.07 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $0.97.

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.4286.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 143.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 44,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 445 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.1%

AOS traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,111,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,097,817. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.15. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.06.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 37.88%.

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.