A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Rating Reiterated by Oppenheimer

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating restated by Oppenheimer in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AOS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $86.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.00. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $89.96. The stock has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $988.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $985.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,929.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 over the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.2% during the third quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. American International Group Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 33,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Republic Investment Management Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.