Brokerages Set A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Price Target at $67.75

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.75.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $65.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson set a $67.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of AOS opened at $62.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $54.16 and a 52 week high of $81.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $60.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 13.15%.The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,005,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at $97,101,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 683,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,563,000 after acquiring an additional 617,179 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.