Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 6,667 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,218,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,667 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.84% of A. O. Smith worth $109,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,055,000 after purchasing an additional 400,304 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,962,000 after acquiring an additional 66,933 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,708,000 after acquiring an additional 19,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,176,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,715,000 after acquiring an additional 21,094 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $75.43 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.73 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.72.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.