S&CO Inc. Buys New Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

S&CO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $72.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.24. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $72.15 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

About A. O. Smith

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.