Bank of Nova Scotia Trims Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia has significantly reduced its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation by 78.2% in Q1, now owning 12,389 shares valued at approximately $810,000.
• In contrast, TCTC Holdings LLC and other investors have increased their stakes in A. O. Smith during the same period, with TCTC up by 69.9%, bringing their total to 491 shares worth $32,000.
• A. O. Smith recently reported a net margin of 13.68% and beat analysts' earnings estimates with $1.07 EPS for the last quarter, although revenue declined 1.3% year over year.

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 78.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 44,532 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 67.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position 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 valued at $178,587,000 after purchasing an additional 417,595 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $166,728,000 after acquiring an additional 236,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,058,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $140,426,000 after acquiring an additional 70,989 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:AOS traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.79. 1,357,319 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,650,229. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.54 and a 200 day moving average of $66.76. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is presently 37.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Five 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, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.43.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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.