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

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) was upgraded by stock 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 equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. DA Davidson cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE AOS opened at $67.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $65.53 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. On average, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.