Bank of America Corp DE Sells 205,796 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,719,547 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 205,796 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.19% of A. O. Smith worth $117,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of AOS stock traded down $1.69 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $68.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,747,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,155,778. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.70.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $950.56 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AOS. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued 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 $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.