A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith updated its FY 2024 guidance to 3.900-4.150 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $3.90-$4.15 EPS.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock traded down $5.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $81.79. The company had a trading volume of 344,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 955,811. The company has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $63.88 and a 12-month high of $89.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 34.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.50.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In related news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.