Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 329,436 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 61,602 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.23% of A. O. Smith worth $22,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $78,766,000. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in 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 worth $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,397,000 after purchasing an additional 365,710 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 100,431.5% during the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 162,861 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $13,319,000 after buying an additional 162,699 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,285,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,383. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $71.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $67.17 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 35.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AOS shares. Citigroup cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.14.

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.