A. O. Smith's (AOS) Hold (C) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.3%

A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.86. 864,606 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,558,271. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50-day moving average price is $66.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.74% and a return on equity of 28.39%. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $950.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $339,124,000 after buying an additional 2,086,433 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth $96,180,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 998.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,121,000 after buying an additional 1,225,521 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter worth $74,180,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. 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.