Larson Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 33.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,707 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 628.0% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 393.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake 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 worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $87.00 on Thursday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $63.88 and a 12-month high of $89.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.62 and a 200 day moving average of $79.73.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 34.59%.

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.