A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Stock Holdings Reduced by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 31.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,997 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 7.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AOS. Oppenheimer upgraded A. O. Smith from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of AOS opened at $67.39 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $65.53 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.53. The stock has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. 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 2.02%. 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.