Czech National Bank Purchases 1,390 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Czech National Bank increased its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,390 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after purchasing an additional 52,593 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,848,000 after purchasing an additional 87,458 shares during the period. Finally, 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. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $71.43 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.38. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $67.17 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $10.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. DA Davidson cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer raised A. O. Smith from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.14.

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.