A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Stock Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on A. O. Smith, with five holds, two sells and two buys. The average 12-month price target is $67.75, compared with the stock’s recent price of $58.66.
• A. O. Smith’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, reporting $1.03 in earnings per share versus the $0.96 consensus estimate, while revenue reached approximately $1 billion but declined 0.7% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 76.1% of the company, and A. O. Smith recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.36, equivalent to an annualized $1.44 payout and a 2.5% yield.

Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the nine analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.75.

A number of brokerages recently commented on AOS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded A. O. Smith from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 561.9% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 748 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 62.6% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 834 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $81,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 108.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,947 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.7%

AOS opened at $58.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company's 50-day moving average is $60.37 and its 200 day moving average is $61.20. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $54.16 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.16.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.15% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $994.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation NYSE: AOS is a global manufacturer of water heating and water treatment equipment. The company serves residential and commercial customers with products including electric and gas water heaters, tankless water heaters, boilers, storage tanks, and related systems.

Its water treatment offerings include residential and commercial filtration, softening, purification, and disinfection products. A. O. Smith sells products under brands such as A. O. Smith, State, Lochinvar, and Takagi through distributors, retailers, contractors, and other sales channels.

Founded in 1874 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the company has evolved from an industrial manufacturer into a water technology business.

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