GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 7.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,406 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,166 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 78,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,043,000 after buying an additional 14,900 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 18.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth about $215,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $24,060,000. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 41,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AOS. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $76.87 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $65.20 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 EPS. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change 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 presently 35.23%.

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.