Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $44.85 Million Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 499,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,668 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $44,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 157.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 665.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.28. The company had a trading volume of 215,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 950,256. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $82.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.85. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $65.08 and a one year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 32.99%.

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.