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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AOS traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $74.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,289,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,329. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.73. The firm has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $70.97 and a 52-week high of $92.44. 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 (NYSE:AOS) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,212,000 after buying an additional 22,859 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 222.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,259,000 after acquiring an additional 17,411 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 84.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 51,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,609,000 after purchasing an additional 23,640 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 119.8% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 11,663 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.