Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 322 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,387,000 after purchasing an additional 72,856 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,962,000 after purchasing an additional 66,933 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,988,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AOS. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $78.75 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $65.08 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 32.99%.

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.