A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AOS opened at $68.25 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $67.17 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.92. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,726,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 37.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,409,000 after buying an additional 50,798 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,372,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $321,348,000 after acquiring an additional 52,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth approximately $730,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.