A. O. Smith’s (AOS) Neutral Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reiterated their neutral rating on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AOS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price objective on A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.1%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $64.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.54. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $77.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.05.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $942.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.33 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 38.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,045,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth $386,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in A. O. Smith by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 11,294 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 7.0% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 15,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at about $253,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.