A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

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

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 price target on A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE AOS opened at $80.43 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $81.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.30 and its 200-day moving average is $70.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.51% and a net margin of 14.26%.The company’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $97,101,000. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $80,885,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 54.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $235,560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,543 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 220.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,022,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,371,000 after acquiring an additional 703,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 683,176 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.