Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,017 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $19,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew 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 purchasing an additional 66,933 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,176,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $105,715,000 after purchasing an additional 21,094 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on 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. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.0 %

AOS opened at $71.42 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.04 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.33 and a 200-day moving average of $82.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $10.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

A. O. Smith Company 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.