A. O. Smith's (AOS) "Hold (C)" Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating restated by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AOS. Citigroup reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.7 %

AOS traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.87. 1,285,710 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 842,383. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $67.17 and a one year high of $92.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $78,766,000. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $315,055,000 after acquiring an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 92.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,397,000 after acquiring an additional 365,710 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth approximately $24,060,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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