A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $72.63 and last traded at $72.77, with a volume of 66061 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AOS. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded 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, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.46.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 35.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 175,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,712,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 183,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,426,000 after purchasing an additional 46,214 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 142,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,212,000 after purchasing an additional 22,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 188.9% in the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About A. O. Smith

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.