Q3 2023 EPS Estimates for A. O. Smith Co. Reduced by Zacks Research (NYSE:AOS)

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q3 2023 earnings per share estimates for A. O. Smith in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, September 13th. Zacks Research analyst E. Haque now forecasts that the industrial products company will post earnings of $0.76 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.77. The consensus estimate for A. O. Smith’s current full-year earnings is $3.57 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for A. O. Smith’s Q1 2024 earnings at $0.94 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.99 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $3.67 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.01 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.97 EPS.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.73% and a net margin of 7.32%. The business had revenue of $960.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on AOS. StockNews.com started coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Seaport Res Ptn restated a “neutral” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, August 7th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.29.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $67.74 on Thursday. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $46.58 and a 52 week high of $76.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.30.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 14th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Wheeler sold 12,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $892,435.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 71,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,937,378.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 1,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total transaction of $83,103.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,654.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Wheeler sold 12,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $892,435.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 71,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,937,378.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AOS. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,282,000 after acquiring an additional 6,288 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,145,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,218,000 after acquiring an additional 20,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.48% of the company’s stock.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas, heat pump and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. It operates through two segments, North America and Rest of World. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; commercial boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as residential boilers for homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, on-the-go filtration bottles, point-of-use carbon, and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.