Willis Investment Counsel Boosts Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 203,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel owned 0.14% of A. O. Smith worth $18,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 157.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 665.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.67.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $80.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.96. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $65.08 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase 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 1.68%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 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.