Martingale Asset Management L P Lowers Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Martingale Asset Management L P decreased its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,135 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 50,193 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.5 %

A. O. Smith stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.49. The company had a trading volume of 381,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,527. The stock has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $70.73 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.09 and a 200 day moving average of $81.41.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is 35.79%.

About A. O. Smith

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.