Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Acquires Shares of 2,916 A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $268,000. S&CO Inc. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 84,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,569,000 after buying an additional 14,587 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.2% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 7,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $716,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.6% in the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 103,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,521 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.2 %

AOS traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $72.11. The company had a trading volume of 49,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,576. 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 12-month low of $71.64 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The company has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.23.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

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.