The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 97,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $8,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,055,000 after buying an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,458 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.7% during the 2nd 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 stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,962,000 after purchasing an additional 66,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the second 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. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $74.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.91 and a 200-day moving average of $81.30. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $70.73 and a 12-month high of $92.44.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.79%.

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.