A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 69.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,871 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 228,565 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.07% of A. O. Smith worth $6,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $96,180,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter worth about $74,180,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $320,880,000 after acquiring an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 242.8% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,787,000 after acquiring an additional 444,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $178,587,000 after purchasing an additional 417,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $63.92. The company had a trading volume of 131,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,753. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.35. 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 firm has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released 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 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped 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 report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.17.

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.