CWA Asset Management Group LLC Purchases New Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 175,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,712,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 33.6% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 183,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,426,000 after acquiring an additional 46,214 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 142,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,212,000 after purchasing an additional 22,859 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 188.9% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.6 %

A. O. Smith stock opened at $73.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.46. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $72.41 and a 52 week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.79%.

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.