A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Bought by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,082,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,122 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned 1.50% of A. O. Smith worth $152,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3,125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 988.9% during the 2nd quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,732.39. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $66.83 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.67. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $81.86.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.