Dark Forest Capital Management LP Grows Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 212.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,622 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,219 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 14,661 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 127.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,732 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 3,766 shares during the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 173,968 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,866,000 after acquiring an additional 23,677 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.67.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.54. 316,601 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,128,075. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.44. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The company had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $950.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. A. O. Smith's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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.