Alps Advisors Inc. Purchases 45,299 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 45,299 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. owned 0.19% of A. O. Smith worth $20,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,939,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 54.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,080,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,405,000 after buying an additional 732,041 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 655.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 710,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,602,000 after buying an additional 616,638 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 521.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 581,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,101,000 after buying an additional 487,513 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 171.6% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 667,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,778,000 after acquiring an additional 421,845 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 price objective on A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $79.05 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.97. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $79.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.51% and a net margin of 14.26%.The firm had revenue of $912.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.97 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.31%.

A. O. Smith Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.