The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of A. O. Smith worth $8,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $55,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 8,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,458 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 63.2% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,165,000 after purchasing an additional 13,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $74.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.16. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.73 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.30.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 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 firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio 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.