Confluence Investment Management LLC Has $18.02 Million Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 264,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,056 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.18% of A. O. Smith worth $18,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $1,726,000. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at about $228,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 37.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,409,000 after purchasing an additional 50,798 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth approximately $1,372,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.36. 133,501 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 969,358. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $67.39 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 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.