OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp reduced its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,510 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,544 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,826 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 329,436 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $22,471,000 after buying an additional 61,602 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 99.9% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,975 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 232,047 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,828,000 after buying an additional 75,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 7,531 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded down $1.74 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 238,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,161,989. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.45. The firm's 50-day moving average is $65.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.48. The company has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $950.56 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AOS. Citigroup cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Profile

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.