Raymond James & Associates Has $6.36 Million Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 57.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 94,256 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $6,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 157.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock opened at $75.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.14. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $69.17 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.15.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.71.

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.