US Bancorp DE Reduces Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

US Bancorp DE reduced its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 546 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,962,000 after acquiring an additional 66,933 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 19,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,988,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AOS shares. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE AOS opened at $76.03 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $70.44 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 35.79%.

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.