UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Stock

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at UBS Group from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.94% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on AOS. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $70.41. 1,262,954 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,684,340. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.06 and its 200 day moving average is $66.80. The stock has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,670,000 after buying an additional 15,769 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 75.8% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,277,000 after purchasing an additional 173,366 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is 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.