Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 267,834 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $24,060,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.18% of A. O. Smith as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company's stock, valued at $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AOS traded down $0.47 on Friday, hitting $76.87. 822,041 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 964,321. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.34. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $65.20 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

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.