Creative Planning Trims Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Creative Planning trimmed its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,824 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,270 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $4,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AOS. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,994 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 31,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,844,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 183,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,407,000 after purchasing an additional 17,844 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AOS. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. 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 research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $77.33 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $65.08 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.53 and a 200 day moving average of $83.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.67.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 33.68%.

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 on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.