FORA Capital LLC Takes Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

Other large investors 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 in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $74.10 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $70.73 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.58. The firm has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.79%.

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.