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

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $91.00 to $90.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

AOS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $83.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.85. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $63.88 and a one year 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. The stock 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 (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 30.94%. The business had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $65,120.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SlateStone Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at $1,111,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at $337,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 112,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,029,000 after purchasing an additional 10,486 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 247,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,153,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at $10,630,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.