Robert W. Baird Increases A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $92.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $86.00 to $92.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.56% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms 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. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $83.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $89.96. The stock has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $85.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.92.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,225,000 after acquiring an additional 88,025 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $200,958,000 after acquiring an additional 133,339 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,991,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,150,000 after acquiring an additional 76,037 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,577,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,339,000 after acquiring an additional 112,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,343,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,839,000 after acquiring an additional 60,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.