A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Given New $81.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its target price trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.2 %

AOS stock opened at $77.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $82.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.48. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $65.08 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.99%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 18.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $24,060,000. Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 4.3% during the third quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 41,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,771,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $3,123,000. 76.10% of the stock is 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.