Harfst & Associates Inc. Sells 17,826 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Harfst & Associates Inc. reduced its position in A. O. Smith Corporation by 55.2%, selling 17,826 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 14,439 shares valued at $944,000.
• Institutional investors are actively adjusting their stakes, with the National Pension Service increasing its holdings by 74.8% and several others following suit during the same period.
• A. O. Smith reported a quarterly EPS of $1.07, exceeding estimates, but faced a 1.3% year-over-year decrease in revenue, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share.

Harfst & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 55.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,439 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 17,826 shares during the quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc.'s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 15,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 69.9% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE AOS traded down $0.01 on Monday, hitting $72.20. 1,066,611 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,555,915. The company's 50 day moving average price is $68.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.06.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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 reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started 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 for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.43.

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.