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

Key Points

• UBS Group has increased its price objective for A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) stock from $74.00 to $76.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.98% from the last close.
• A. O. Smith recently reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.97, but has seen a 1.3% decline in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
• Currently, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with five holding ratings and three buy ratings assigned.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reiterated by investment analysts at UBS Group in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $76.00 price objective on the industrial products company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $74.00. UBS Group's price target suggests a potential upside of 6.76% from the company's previous close.

AOS has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:AOS opened at $71.19 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business's 50-day moving average price is $66.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.80. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.1% during the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 15,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,020,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.4% in the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. 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.