Simon Quick Advisors LLC Has $355,000 Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 341 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $1,726,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,409,000 after purchasing an additional 50,798 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,372,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $730,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price 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. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $71.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $67.17 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.02.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm 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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.