A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Stock Has Average Price Target of $66.38

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.38.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus set a $59.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Citigroup decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Longbow Research cut A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research raised A. O. Smith from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, August 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in A. O. Smith by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,168,894 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $143,017,000 after acquiring an additional 203,846 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,959,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $129,202,000 after purchasing an additional 64,873 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,425,759 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $94,014,000 after purchasing an additional 42,702 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $92,005,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,346,863 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,812,000 after buying an additional 5,175 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $59.53 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.04. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $54.16 and a 1 year high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 13.15%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $994.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation is a manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its portfolio includes gas and electric storage water heaters, tankless water heaters, boilers, heat pump water heaters, water filtration systems, water softeners and reverse-osmosis products.

The company markets products under the A. O. Smith brand and other regional brands, serving applications ranging from homes and apartments to hotels, hospitals, schools, manufacturing facilities and other commercial properties.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.