Today's noteworthy initiations include: A.O. Smith (AOS) initiated with a Buy at BB&T...Exxon Mobil (XOM) initiated with an Underperform at Macquarie... Farmland Partners (FPI) initiated with a Buy at Wunderlich... Ferro (FOE) initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer... FibroGen (FGEN) initiated with a Hold at Lake Street.

Reports Q1 revenue $978.8M, consensus $995.97M. "A. O. Smith delivered a strong performance in the first quarter primarily driven by higher sales of our commercial high efficiency water heaters and lower steel costs in North America as we saw continued healthy water heater demand. We achieved sales growth of 6% in China, despite the ongoing macroeconomic challenges in that country, as our recently released kitchen products continue to be well received in the market," noted Kevin Wheeler, chairman and chief executive officer. "I am pleased with our global team's efforts in servicing our customers during the quarter."