Earnest Partners LLC Has $167.39 Million Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72,856 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 1.40% of A. O. Smith worth $167,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 177.4% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 14,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 57.3% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 23,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,000 after buying an additional 8,465 shares during the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 100,431.5% during the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 162,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,319,000 after buying an additional 162,699 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,409,000 after acquiring an additional 50,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 65.3% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.1 %

AOS stock opened at $85.85 on Thursday. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.30 and a one year high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.