A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Rating Increased to Neutral at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. UBS Group currently has $80.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $75.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $77.28 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $65.08 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.59 and a 200 day moving average of $83.48. The firm has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced 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. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other 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.