A. O. Smith's (AOS) Hold (C) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reiterated their hold (c) rating on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on AOS. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AOS traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.13. 846,302 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,148,288. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.45. The firm has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.69.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,404,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $941,462,000 after acquiring an additional 286,316 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $339,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 6.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,011,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $327,551,000 after purchasing an additional 307,201 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $251,751,000 after buying an additional 111,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

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.