Oppenheimer Lowers A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $84.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Oppenheimer's target price points to a potential upside of 27.89% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AOS. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS traded down $1.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,999,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,783. The company has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company's 50-day moving average is $70.55 and its 200-day moving average is $77.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. A. O. Smith has a twelve month low of $65.53 and a twelve month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.