A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target Raised to $92.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $86.00 to $92.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.04% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AOS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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 raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.83.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 4.8 %

AOS opened at $82.85 on Friday. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.75. The firm has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.25. 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 (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,929.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 628.0% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 393.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is 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.