Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Sells 831 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lessened its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 69,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 831 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $6,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $72.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $80.59 and a 200-day moving average of $82.24. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $72.15 and a one 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 35.79%.

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.