Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 21,276 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 11.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,971 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 21,276 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of A. O. Smith worth $14,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $78,766,000. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 11.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at $22,288,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,060,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 100,431.5% in the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 162,861 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $13,319,000 after purchasing an additional 162,699 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of AOS stock traded down $0.77 on Friday, hitting $72.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,214,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,721. 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 twelve month low of $72.15 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.24. The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AOS. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.71.

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.