Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Hold (C) Rating for A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS)

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their hold (c) rating on shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) in a research note released on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

AOS has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $65.99 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.40. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $64.55 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The company has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $55,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. 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.