Confluence Investment Management LLC Purchases 66,657 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 330,819 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 66,657 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned 0.23% of A. O. Smith worth $21,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $84,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $120,000. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS stock traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.29. The company had a trading volume of 10,260,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,228,326. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.45. The firm's fifty day moving average is $65.74 and its 200 day moving average is $68.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The business 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%. A. O. Smith's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.