Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Cuts Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise decreased its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $482,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 6,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $73.17 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $80.07 and a 200-day moving average of $81.93. The stock has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.73 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.