A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,971 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 21,276 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of A. O. Smith worth $14,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP increased its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AOS. DA Davidson cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.7 %

AOS stock opened at $68.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $68.07 and a 12 month high of $92.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.71.

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 for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 35.79%.

A. O. Smith Company 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.