A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.3333.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. DA Davidson set a $67.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.7%

AOS opened at $58.92 on Monday. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $54.16 and a 52 week high of $81.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.93. The firm has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.16.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.06 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.84%.A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,101,000. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $80,885,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 220.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,022,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,371,000 after buying an additional 703,186 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,009,622,000 after buying an additional 683,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 93.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,563,000 after acquiring an additional 617,179 shares during the last quarter. 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.