A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Position Lessened by Arjuna Capital

Arjuna Capital lowered its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 72.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,361 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 9,032 shares during the quarter. Arjuna Capital's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $113,962,000 after buying an additional 66,933 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,708,000 after buying an additional 19,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $87,988,000 after buying an additional 26,794 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of AOS traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,065,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 972,498. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.92 and a 200 day moving average of $82.46. The company has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $72.62 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, 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 note 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.71.

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.