A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Stock Holdings Reduced by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $72.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $72.15 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. 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. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.79%.

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.