Two Sigma Advisers LP Has $2.73 Million Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lowered its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,400 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,972,000 after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 124.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 3,712 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $7,015,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,371,000 after buying an additional 17,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AOS. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $64.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,260,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,655. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio 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.