Key Points
- Director Kevin Wheeler sold 14,675 A. O. Smith shares at an average of $65.64, totaling about $963,000. The sale reduced his direct ownership by 10.26%, to 128,348 shares.
- A. O. Smith beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.93 versus the $0.90 consensus, but revenue of $940.5 million fell short of estimates and was down 0.2% year over year. The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.36 to $0.38 per share.
- Analyst sentiment was cautious: the stock had a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $66, with six Hold and three Sell ratings versus one Buy.
A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) Director Kevin Wheeler sold 14,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.64, for a total transaction of $963,267.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 128,348 shares in the company, valued at $8,424,762.72. This trade represents a 10.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.
A. O. Smith Price Performance
NYSE AOS opened at $64.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.16 and a 12 month high of $81.86. The company's 50 day moving average is $59.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.40. The stock has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.03.
A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.03. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 27.66%. The firm had revenue of $940.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.
A. O. Smith Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.34%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $59.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, October 18th. Longbow Research downgraded A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $66.00.
Get Our Latest Report on AOS
Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,142 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 774.4% during the 2nd quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 2,728 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,660 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 3,372 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About A. O. Smith
(
Get Free Report)
A. O. Smith Corporation is a manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its portfolio includes gas and electric storage water heaters, tankless water heaters, boilers, heat pump water heaters, water filtration systems, water softeners and reverse-osmosis products.
The company markets products under the A. O. Smith brand and other regional brands, serving applications ranging from homes and apartments to hotels, hospitals, schools, manufacturing facilities and other commercial properties.
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