A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Raised to “Outperform” at Oppenheimer

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) was upgraded by research analysts at Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm currently has a $88.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 27.96% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on AOS. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson cut 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. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $68.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $67.17 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.51.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $43,000. 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.