A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Purchased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 2.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $74.49 on Monday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.41. The company has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $70.73 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities 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 disclosed 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 represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.71.

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.