Weiss Ratings Reiterates “Hold (C)” Rating for A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS)

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their hold (c) rating on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) in a report issued on Saturday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $67.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.55 and a 200 day moving average of $77.04. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $65.53 and a 52 week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.