Hsbc Holdings PLC Cuts Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 9.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 315,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,060 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.21% of A. O. Smith worth $25,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algebris UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 6,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 33,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $82.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.97. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $64.14 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $12.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly 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). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AOS. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.