A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Earns “Hold” Rating from Stifel Nicolaus

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $80.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.79% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded down $1.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.09. 388,694 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,051,910. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.81. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $46.58 and a 52 week high of $76.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.55. The company has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.30.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $960.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.17 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.73% and a net margin of 7.32%. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Wheeler sold 12,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total transaction of $892,435.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 71,463 shares in the company, valued at $4,937,378.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 1,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total transaction of $83,103.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,222 shares in the company, valued at $3,654,654.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Wheeler sold 12,917 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $892,435.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 71,463 shares in the company, valued at $4,937,378.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. State Street Corp raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,804,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,740,000 after acquiring an additional 225,462 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 98,060.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 8,147,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $592,962,000 after purchasing an additional 8,139,027 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,000,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $191,694,000 after purchasing an additional 227,825 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,929,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,417,000 after buying an additional 15,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 16.8% during the first quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 2,296,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $146,694,000 after buying an additional 329,539 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.48% of the company’s stock.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas, heat pump and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. It operates through two segments, North America and Rest of World. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; commercial boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as residential boilers for homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, on-the-go filtration bottles, point-of-use carbon, and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.