A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Receives $77.43 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

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 earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.4286.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith 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 transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,670,000 after buying an additional 15,769 shares during 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 shares of A. O. Smith by 18.3% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.51. 378,911 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,525,057. 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 has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $69.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.08.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $997.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. 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, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.