A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.50.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AOS. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $72.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $68.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.62. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $77.31.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 38.81%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 939,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,393,000 after purchasing an additional 154,201 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 30.4% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 118.5% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.1% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 6,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.