Stifel Nicolaus Increases A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $91.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 5.07% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AOS. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.50.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS traded up $1.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $86.61. 1,188,397 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 946,734. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.95.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $985.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AOS. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,804,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,740,000 after acquiring an additional 225,462 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,225,000 after buying an additional 88,025 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $200,958,000 after buying an additional 133,339 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.8% in the first quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 2,296,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,694,000 after buying an additional 329,539 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.5% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,120,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,599,000 after buying an additional 360,409 shares during the period. 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.