Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Buys New Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP raised its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the second 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 period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on 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 lifted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 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 Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $73.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $72.62 and a one year high of $92.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.32. 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 (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.