ING Groep NV Has $1.44 Million Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of 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 acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE AOS opened at $72.23 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $72.15 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.59 and a 200-day moving average of $82.23. The company has a market cap 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. 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 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio 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.