A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Stock Holdings Trimmed by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 294,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 34,619 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $19,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AOS. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,837,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 26.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 665,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 139,117 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,265,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,952,000 after purchasing an additional 13,906 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 273,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,057,000 after purchasing an additional 45,299 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth $750,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $82,126.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,732.39. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $64.55 on Friday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $81.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. The firm had revenue of $912.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.