Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Boosts Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,225,000 after purchasing an additional 88,025 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $200,958,000 after acquiring an additional 133,339 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 7.7% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,577,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,339,000 after acquiring an additional 112,600 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,343,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,839,000 after acquiring an additional 60,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,276,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,444,000 after purchasing an additional 11,132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AOS. Citigroup increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.50.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $82.85 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $85.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.75. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $63.88 and a 12 month high of $89.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.59%.

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.