Wellington Management Group LLP Has $12.95 Million Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 144,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 343,102 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $12,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 11.6% in 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 buying an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after buying an additional 87,458 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 72,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% in 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 last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $72.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.16. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $70.73 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.58.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. A. O. Smith’s 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.