A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Stock Rating Upgraded by 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 on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $88.15 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.62 and a 200 day moving average of $84.05. The stock has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.15. 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 has a 52-week low of $65.08 and a 52-week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.7% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,991,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,138,000 after acquiring an additional 75,898 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,962,000 after acquiring an additional 66,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,708,000 after acquiring an additional 19,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.