Blue Trust Inc. Grows Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 44.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,419 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $78,766,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $22,288,000. Distillate Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 100,431.5% during the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 162,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,319,000 after buying an additional 162,699 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 461,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,075,000 after acquiring an additional 140,685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $78.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.07. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $65.08 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 32.99%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at $194,319. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.