A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.17.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 33,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 5,732 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 34.4% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 28,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 7,323 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at $606,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 200,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,391,000 after acquiring an additional 19,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 44.3% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 160,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,087,000 after acquiring an additional 49,166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $68.68 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $71.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.84. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $67.17 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

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.