Raymond James & Associates Sells 94,256 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 94,256 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $6,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 44.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,419 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 17.7% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in A. O. Smith by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 7.2% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. DA Davidson downgraded 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $75.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $69.17 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.14.

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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 1.81%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.