Global X Japan Co. Ltd. Buys 398 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 8.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,212,000 after acquiring an additional 22,859 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at about $228,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 222.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,259,000 after buying an additional 17,411 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 84.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 51,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,609,000 after buying an additional 23,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 119.8% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after acquiring an additional 11,663 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.5 %

AOS opened at $78.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $65.08 and a one year high of $92.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 32.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.71.

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.