Brokerages Set A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Target Price at $77.00

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $66.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.07. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $77.31.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 3,125.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 143.7% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 44,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.