A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Position Lowered by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. reduced its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 39.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,387 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,972,000 after acquiring an additional 12,305 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 124.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 3,712 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,015,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,371,000 after buying an additional 17,442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $68.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.62 and a 200-day moving average of $68.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut 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. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.17.

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.

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