StockNews.com Upgrades A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) to Buy

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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 target price for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $78.75 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $65.08 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The company has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.67 and a 200-day moving average of $83.68.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American International Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in A. O. Smith by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 461,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,075,000 after acquiring an additional 140,685 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 768.9% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 5,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 5,113 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.