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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $78.60 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.67 and its 200 day moving average is $83.65. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $65.08 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth approximately $228,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position 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 buying an additional 17,411 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 84.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 51,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,609,000 after buying an additional 23,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 119.8% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,914,000 after buying an additional 11,663 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.