A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $59.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 18th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings raised A. O. Smith from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $67.19 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith has a 1 year low of $54.16 and a 1 year high of $81.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.46. The company has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.64.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $940.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.20 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 27.66%. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 24.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 23.5% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 774.4% in the second quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 2,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 8.5% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 8.4% in the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 3,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation is a manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its portfolio includes gas and electric storage water heaters, tankless water heaters, boilers, heat pump water heaters, water filtration systems, water softeners and reverse-osmosis products.

The company markets products under the A. O. Smith brand and other regional brands, serving applications ranging from homes and apartments to hotels, hospitals, schools, manufacturing facilities and other commercial properties.