A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Given New $90.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price target reduced by Robert W. Baird from $92.00 to $90.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $89.29.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $84.54 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.70. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $64.14 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.16%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2,462.1% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $250,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 38,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,124,000 after acquiring an additional 16,400 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.5% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,988,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.