Thompson Investment Management Inc. Has $3.43 Million Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in A. O. Smith by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 13,844 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,119,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,195,000 after buying an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 17,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $65.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.54. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.94 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

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.