Thematics Asset Management Grows Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Thematics Asset Management raised its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 182,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. Thematics Asset Management’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $16,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 398.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 1,932 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 3,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 119.8% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,914,000 after buying an additional 11,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,645,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.8 %

AOS traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $74.05. 95,726 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 968,541. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.72. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.73 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

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.