A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 733,279 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 23,476 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.50% of A. O. Smith worth $65,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP raised its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded down $1.17 on Friday, reaching $74.86. 1,289,404 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 969,329. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $70.97 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.73.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 35.79%.

A. O. Smith Company 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.