A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by WealthPLAN Partners LLC

WealthPLAN Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 33.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,589 shares during the period. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,055,000 after buying an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.7% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,962,000 after buying an additional 66,933 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,708,000 after buying an additional 19,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,988,000 after acquiring an additional 26,794 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AOS. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $75.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $81.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.53. The company has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $72.41 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.