A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.75.

AOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, August 24th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $56.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.16. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $54.16 and a 1 year high of $81.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.91.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. Analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 0.5% during the first quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 35,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 8.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.9% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.1% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) is a manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. The company’s product portfolio includes electric and gas water heaters, boilers, storage tanks, heat pump water heaters, and related equipment and controls.

The company also provides water treatment solutions, including water softeners, filtration systems, and other products designed to improve water quality. Its products are marketed under the A.