A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Downgraded by StockNews.com

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

A number of other research analysts have also commented on AOS. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $76.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.07. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $65.20 and a one year high of $92.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.34. The company has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 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.