A. O. Smith Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.34 (NYSE:AOS)

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 7th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%.

A. O. Smith has increased its dividend by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 31 years. A. O. Smith has a payout ratio of 32.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect A. O. Smith to earn $4.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.4%.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $60.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.38 and its 200 day moving average is $72.16. The stock has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $59.73 and a 1-year high of $92.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.76% 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.