A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on AOS. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $78.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $65.08 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. American International Group Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 33,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 461,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,075,000 after purchasing an additional 140,685 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 768.9% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 5,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 240.4% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 8.0% in the first quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 24,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% 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.