Crestline Management LP Grows Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Crestline Management LP boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 911.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,482 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,380 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth about $84,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth about $123,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.5%

AOS stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.09. 281,794 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,146,113. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.69. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

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.