A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Holdings Lowered by Duality Advisers LP

Duality Advisers LP trimmed its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,800 shares during the quarter. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,225,000 after purchasing an additional 88,025 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $200,958,000 after purchasing an additional 133,339 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,577,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,339,000 after purchasing an additional 112,600 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,343,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,839,000 after purchasing an additional 60,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,276,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,444,000 after purchasing an additional 11,132 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.50.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock opened at $87.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $63.88 and a 12 month high of $89.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $85.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.73.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $988.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $985.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 34.59%.

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.