KBC Group NV Grows Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

KBC Group NV grew its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,176,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,094 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.81% of A. O. Smith worth $105,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after buying an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,387,000 after acquiring an additional 72,856 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,962,000 after purchasing an additional 66,933 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,890 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,988,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $73.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.39. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $72.62 and a one year high of $92.44.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.