A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp trimmed its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,335 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,662 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,007 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 12.5% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,227 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer raised A. O. Smith from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.14.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock traded down $1.66 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,396,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,284,329. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $67.17 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50 day moving average price is $71.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.