A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP trimmed its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 36.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AOS shares. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on 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. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $73.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $72.62 and a 12 month high of $92.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $80.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.32. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio 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.