Claro Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Claro Advisors LLC trimmed its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,881 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 37.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,409,000 after buying an additional 50,798 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at $1,372,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth about $730,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer raised A. O. Smith from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $71.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $67.17 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for 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 last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.