Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Grows Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 211,361 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 8,905 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV owned approximately 0.14% of A. O. Smith worth $18,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,055,000 after buying an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,991,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,138,000 after buying an additional 75,898 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,962,000 after buying an additional 66,933 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,708,000 after buying an additional 19,890 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.0 %

AOS stock opened at $88.03 on Thursday. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $64.86 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.38 and a 200 day moving average of $84.07.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.