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

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.17.

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,348,000 after purchasing an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after purchasing an additional 87,458 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $68.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $67.17 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The firm has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.84.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.