Hardy Reed LLC Invests $325,000 in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Hardy Reed LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $78,766,000. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after buying an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $22,288,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $24,060,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 100,431.5% in the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 162,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,319,000 after acquiring an additional 162,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $73.91 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.72. The firm has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 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 12 month low of $70.73 and a 12 month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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, October 23rd. DA Davidson cut 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.71.

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.