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

Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.8889.

A number of research firms have weighed in on AOS. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Zacks Research downgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $56.80 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.56. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $54.16 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.09). The company 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,201 shares in the company, valued at $163,732.39. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,009,622,000 after purchasing an additional 683,176 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in A. O. Smith by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,911,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $395,361,000 after purchasing an additional 458,257 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in A. O. Smith by 3.4% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,850,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,050,000 after purchasing an additional 157,856 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,559,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $304,947,000 after purchasing an additional 37,621 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $235,560,000 after buying an additional 1,128,543 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.