Centaurus Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Centaurus Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 24.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 587 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Six equities research 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, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.3 %

A. O. Smith stock opened at $74.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.63. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $70.73 and a 12 month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 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.