A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,453 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.16% of A. O. Smith worth $21,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP boosted 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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, November 20th. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.5 %

A. O. Smith stock opened at $74.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.53.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.79%.

A. O. Smith 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.