King Luther Capital Management Corp Increases Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 10.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,430 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $6,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $1,684,000. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $262,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $268,000. S&CO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 84,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,569,000 after buying an additional 14,587 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of 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. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $73.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.93. The company has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $70.73 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.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 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.