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

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

AOS has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group raised 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AOS traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.25. The company had a trading volume of 943,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,055,710. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $67.17 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.92.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 76.10% of the stock is 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.