A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Given New $90.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price target decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $91.00 to $90.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AOS. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $83.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.71 and a 200-day moving average of $79.85. The company has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.65.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 30.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 33.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total value of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 628.0% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 393.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.