Brokerages Set A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Price Target at $77.00

Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AOS. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 price objective on A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, January 30th.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of AOS opened at $66.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.94. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $81.86. The company has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.33.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,732.39. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,837,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,265,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,952,000 after purchasing an additional 13,906 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 26.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 665,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 139,117 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.9% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 273,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,057,000 after purchasing an additional 45,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth approximately $750,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.