Robert W. Baird Boosts A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Price Target to $76.00

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $75.00 to $76.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price points to a potential upside of 12.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on AOS. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $67.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.32 and its 200-day moving average is $69.32. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $1,726,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,972,000 after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 124.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 3,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,015,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About A. O. Smith

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.