Atwater Malick LLC Purchases 4,129 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Atwater Malick LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,723 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the period. A. O. Smith accounts for about 2.6% of Atwater Malick LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Atwater Malick LLC owned about 0.08% of A. O. Smith worth $7,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,972,000 after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 7.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,712 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,015,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in 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 valued at $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 17,442 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AOS. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $64.84. 1,331,832 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,250,475. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $65.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.68. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.