A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Upgraded by UBS Group to “Neutral”

UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. UBS Group currently has $80.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $75.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird cut 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. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $76.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $65.20 and a one year high of $92.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.67.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 7.2% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 12.5% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 2.3% during the first quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 6,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently 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.