A. O. Smith’s (AOS) “Hold (C)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their hold (c) rating on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) in a research report report published on Friday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AOS. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $69.45 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $64.55 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 4.3% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 2.2% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 7,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in 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 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.