A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.3333.

Several brokerages recently commented on AOS. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $65.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,009,622,000 after acquiring an additional 683,176 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,911,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $395,361,000 after acquiring an additional 458,257 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,559,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $304,947,000 after acquiring an additional 37,621 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 54.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,128,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,909,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $194,581,000 after purchasing an additional 101,453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $60.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.00. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $54.16 and a 1 year high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.06 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 28.42%. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

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.