A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Stake Reduced by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. trimmed its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,789 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,598 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. owned 0.05% of A. O. Smith worth $4,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the company'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 value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on 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. 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $68.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $65.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. A. O. Smith's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

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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