Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,232,276 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,937 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.85% of A. O. Smith worth $84,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AOS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $962,985,000 after purchasing an additional 148,432 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $251,751,000 after buying an additional 111,612 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $178,587,000 after acquiring an additional 417,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS traded up $1.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.47. The company had a trading volume of 877,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,136,121. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. A. O. Smith's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.47%.

Insider Activity

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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.