Thompson Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 858 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AOS. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $65.19 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.85 and a 200 day moving average of $76.54. The company has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.94 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

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.