StockNews.com Lowers A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of A. O. Smith from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.6 %

AOS stock opened at $87.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $64.86 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $82.38 and a 200-day moving average of $84.07.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 157.2% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 665.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. 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.