A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $77.44 and last traded at $77.1250, with a volume of 68874 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.51% and a net margin of 14.26%.The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.31%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 154,201 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 43,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.