A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AOS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $69.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.59. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $80.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.30.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $339,124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $91,939,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 998.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,521 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 655.5% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 710,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,602,000 after acquiring an additional 616,638 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 521.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 581,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,101,000 after acquiring an additional 487,513 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.