A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $73.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.07 and a 200 day moving average of $81.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a 12 month low of $70.73 and a 12 month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth about $228,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 222.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,259,000 after purchasing an additional 17,411 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 119.8% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 11,663 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,127,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the first quarter worth approximately $1,495,000. 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.