A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

AOS has been the topic of several other research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $59.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $66.00.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $67.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.46. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $54.16 and a 1-year high of $81.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.03.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.03. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 27.66% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company had revenue of $940.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 35,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.4% in the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 3,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.3% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 12,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation is a manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its portfolio includes gas and electric storage water heaters, tankless water heaters, boilers, heat pump water heaters, water filtration systems, water softeners and reverse-osmosis products.

The company markets products under the A. O. Smith brand and other regional brands, serving applications ranging from homes and apartments to hotels, hospitals, schools, manufacturing facilities and other commercial properties.