King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 20,737 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 33.4%, selling 20,737 shares, and now holds 41,330 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• A. O. Smith announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, scheduled to be paid on August 15th, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.9%.
• Several analysts have ratings for A. O. Smith, with a consensus price target of $77.43 and five analysts rating it as a hold.

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 33.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 20,737 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings 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 worth $339,124,000 after buying an additional 2,086,433 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth $74,180,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 242.8% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,787,000 after buying an additional 444,307 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 worth $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 4,238.7% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 383,195 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,046,000 after buying an additional 374,363 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price 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. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chairman 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS traded down $0.34 on Friday, hitting $72.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,251,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,294. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.06. The stock has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

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

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.