Confluence Investment Management LLC Has $18.02 Million Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Confluence Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,056 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $18,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth approximately $1,726,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 11.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after buying an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 60.0% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 1,713 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.7% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 59,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,334,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.7% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.36. The stock had a trading volume of 133,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,358. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $72.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.39. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $67.39 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.79%.

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.