Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 9,371 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 12.9%, holding a total of 82,160 shares worth $5.37 million after acquiring an additional 9,371 shares in the first quarter.
• A. O. Smith announced a quarterly $0.34 dividend, with an ex-dividend date of July 31st, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%.
• The company's stock beat analysts' expectations in its latest earnings report, posting $1.07 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.97, despite a 1.3% year-over-year revenue decline.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,160 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,371 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. owned 0.06% of A. O. Smith worth $5,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,404,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $941,462,000 after buying an additional 286,316 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,086,433 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 417,595 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $166,728,000 after buying an additional 236,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,058,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $140,426,000 after buying an additional 70,989 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.2%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $70.79 on Monday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.06. The stock has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $67.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is presently 37.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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