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

S&CO Inc. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

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

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE AOS opened at $72.23 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.24. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $72.15 and a one year high of $92.44. 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 company has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued 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 yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lowered 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. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

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.