KBC Group NV Acquires 471,990 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 40.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $112,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $43,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $70.60 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.89. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $67.17 and a 12 month high of $92.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 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.