A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Shares Bought by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 12,143 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of A. O. Smith worth $15,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $339,124,000 after buying an additional 2,086,433 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $96,180,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at $74,180,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 242.8% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,787,000 after buying an additional 444,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AOS traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $68.86. The company had a trading volume of 864,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,558,271. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.74% and a return on equity of 28.39%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation 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 Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.29.

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.