Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $363,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $962,985,000 after acquiring an additional 148,432 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,880,000 after acquiring an additional 995,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,751,000 after acquiring an additional 111,612 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,587,000 after acquiring an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $166,728,000 after purchasing an additional 236,880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.29.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE AOS opened at $70.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.63. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.74% and a return on equity of 28.39%. The company had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.99%.

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.