A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Trading 3.7% Higher on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) was up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $68.18 and last traded at $67.16. Approximately 253,864 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 1,123,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.78.

The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $950.56 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $339,124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086,433 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,180,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the first quarter worth approximately $74,180,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,880,000 after acquiring an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.5 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $65.30 and its 200-day moving average is $69.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

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.