Willis Investment Counsel Buys 518 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Willis Investment Counsel grew its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 204,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 518 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $13,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,348,000 after acquiring an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,458 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,137,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,153,000 after buying an additional 83,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $67.27 on Monday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $65.53 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The company has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.20.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. Research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered shares of 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. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith 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.