StockNews.com Lowers A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) to Hold

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on AOS. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday. DA Davidson cut 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.6 %

A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.87. The stock had a trading volume of 822,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 964,321. The stock has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a 12 month low of $65.20 and a 12 month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $315,055,000 after buying an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $167,387,000 after acquiring an additional 72,856 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $113,962,000 after acquiring an additional 66,933 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $97,708,000 after acquiring an additional 19,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $87,988,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

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.