A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,234 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,648 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in A. O. Smith by 1.7% during 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, KBC Group NV increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,176,835 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,715,000 after acquiring an additional 21,094 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE AOS traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.49. 381,326 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 954,527. The company has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.41. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $70.73 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 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 business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.71.

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.