A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AOS. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $73.44 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.85. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $70.73 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The company has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.17. 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.79%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.4% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 21,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 589.6% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 12,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 10,324 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at $201,000. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 86.3% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 9,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth about $245,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About A. O. Smith

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.