Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Raises Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 5,572 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 12.5% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.3% during the first quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 6,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $82.62 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $65.08 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.91.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 32.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.