Waldron Private Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 361 A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 361 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP raised its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 157.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $77.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $65.08 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $82.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost 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 1.76%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.