Toronto Dominion Bank Buys 436 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 59,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $5,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP raised its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $72.49 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $70.73 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.19 and its 200-day moving average is $80.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.79%.

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.