A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Oppenheimer

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Oppenheimer from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $88.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock. Oppenheimer's target price indicates a potential upside of 23.46% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AOS. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Five equities research 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, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS traded up $2.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $71.28. 1,716,759 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,162,632. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $71.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.51. The company has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $67.17 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 200,425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,391,000 after acquiring an additional 19,621 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 21,810 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 2,506 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.3% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 129,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,634,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 411,200 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,628,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is 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.