A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Position Cut by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 144,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 343,102 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.10% of A. O. Smith worth $12,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP increased its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $72.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.16. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $70.73 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.58. 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 (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

About A. O. Smith

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.