Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 668,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 862 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.46% of A. O. Smith worth $59,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 665.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 188.9% in the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the first quarter worth $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AOS shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock traded down $1.03 on Friday, hitting $87.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,038,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,344. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, 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 $64.14 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.71.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

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.