Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $459,000 Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise cut its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,176,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 71.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,173,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,716,000 after buying an additional 487,742 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,257,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $103,693,000 after buying an additional 317,389 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $22,288,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 623,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,390,000 after buying an additional 168,911 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $83.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.14 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.82 and a 200-day moving average of $84.12.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.67.

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.