Sarasin & Partners LLP Purchases Shares of 1,134,952 A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,134,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $74,180,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.79% of A. O. Smith at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in A. O. Smith by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,803 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AOS. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of AOS traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 201,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,249,719. The company's fifty day moving average price is $65.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.45. The stock has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.99%.

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.