A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.7143.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, November 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,412,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,058,047,000 after acquiring an additional 182,876 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,850,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,050,000 after buying an additional 157,856 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $235,560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,543 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,508,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $184,182,000 after purchasing an additional 109,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,500,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $163,940,000 after purchasing an additional 79,696 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $67.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.02. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $77.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $942.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.33 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 38.81%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.