Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 267,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,060,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.18% of A. O. Smith as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson downgraded shares of 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. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped 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 report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $76.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.07. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $65.20 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.37.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.