A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Shares Bought by Entropy Technologies LP

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 30.6%, owning 21,558 shares valued at approximately $1.41 million.
• A. O. Smith reported an EPS of $1.07 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, though revenue declined 1.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 30.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,558 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,056 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,181 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth $92,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AOS traded down $1.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $72.57. The stock had a trading volume of 908,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,563,372. A. O. Smith Corporation has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $92.06. The company has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $68.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.81.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AOS. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Company 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.