New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 47,432 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 360,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 47,432 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.25% of A. O. Smith worth $32,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP raised 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 buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $75.40 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $81.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $70.30 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AOS. DA Davidson cut 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. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith 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.