A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target Lowered to $90.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $91.00 to $90.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.80% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AOS. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $83.49. The company had a trading volume of 200,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 972,276. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $63.88 and a 52-week high of $89.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,225,000 after buying an additional 88,025 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $200,958,000 after buying an additional 133,339 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,991,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,150,000 after buying an additional 76,037 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.7% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,577,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,339,000 after buying an additional 112,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,343,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,839,000 after purchasing an additional 60,337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.