Stifel Nicolaus Increases A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $91.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.97% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 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 shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.50.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $86.69 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $63.88 and a twelve month high of $89.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.05.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $985.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total value of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of 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 available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 over the last quarter. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,258,000. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,047,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 8.8% during the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 37,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065 shares during the last quarter. FCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 138.7% during the fourth quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 22,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 12,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.