Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $18.48 Million Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 12.3%, acquiring an additional 30,888 shares to hold a total of 282,707 shares worth approximately $18.5 million.
• Several brokerages have adjusted their price targets for A. O. Smith, with Oppenheimer raising it from $82.00 to $88.00, while Citigroup lowered theirs from $69.00 to $65.00, indicating mixed analyst sentiment.
• A. O. Smith announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.36 and a yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 37.88%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 282,707 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,888 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.20% of A. O. Smith worth $18,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AOS. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 15,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 69.9% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,898 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $72.57. 703,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,560,998. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $68.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.81.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.