Oppenheimer Issues Pessimistic Forecast for A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Stock Price

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective cut by Oppenheimer from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AOS. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $67.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.39. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $65.53 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. Research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after buying an additional 87,458 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,467,000 after buying an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,137,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,153,000 after acquiring an additional 83,495 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently 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.