A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Bought by Global X Japan Co. Ltd.

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares during the quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $65.50 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $64.94 and a 12-month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

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.