State Street Corp Purchases 299,766 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 5.33% of A. O. Smith worth $693,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 222.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,255 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,259,000 after buying an additional 17,411 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 37.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,409,000 after buying an additional 50,798 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,372,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $730,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of AOS stock traded up $1.28 on Monday, reaching $73.89. 1,313,884 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 969,316. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $70.73 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $77.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.95.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 35.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $84.29.

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.