Ballentine Partners LLC Buys Shares of 5,981 A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,981 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in 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 worth $77,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AOS. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.29.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of AOS stock traded up $2.49 on Thursday, reaching $70.54. 1,054,744 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,302,870. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.62. The stock has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.01. A. O. Smith Corporation has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

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.