A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd lowered its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,023 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,601 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned 0.07% of A. O. Smith worth $6,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,898 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of 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, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE AOS opened at $65.65 on Friday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $65.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.78. The firm has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.21.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.39% and a net margin of 13.74%. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio 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.

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