Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.86.
AOS has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on AOS
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $693,630,000 after acquiring an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $321,348,000 after purchasing an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $206,848,000 after purchasing an additional 87,458 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,137,184 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,153,000 after buying an additional 83,495 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
NYSE:AOS opened at $67.27 on Monday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $70.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.20. The company has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $65.53 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67.
A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. On average, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.47%.
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.
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