A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,471 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.09% of A. O. Smith worth $11,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.6 %

AOS opened at $75.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $69.17 and a one year high of $92.44. The company has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.14.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on 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. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

About A. O. Smith

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.