A. O. Smith’s (AOS) Hold (C) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS)‘s stock had its “hold (c)” rating reissued by Weiss Ratings in a report released on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five investment 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $66.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.31. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $64.55 and a one year high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $55,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at about $82,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by 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.