Unigestion Holding SA Trims Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Unigestion Holding SA reduced its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 24.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 49,669 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA owned 0.11% of A. O. Smith worth $13,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $84.14.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, reaching $72.88. 1,084,757 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 969,737. The firm has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.79. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $70.73 and a 12 month high of $92.44.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 35.79%.

A. O. Smith 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.