Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Has $502,000 Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 93.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,593 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 74,941 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $228,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 222.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,255 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,259,000 after acquiring an additional 17,411 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in A. O. Smith by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,409,000 after buying an additional 50,798 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth $1,372,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth $730,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AOS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. 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. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $84.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock traded up $1.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $73.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,313,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,316. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $77.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.95. 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 one year low of $70.73 and a one year high of $92.44. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.