Lafayette Investments Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 17.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,694 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.'s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $962,985,000 after acquiring an additional 148,432 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $251,751,000 after acquiring an additional 111,612 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 417,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 10.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE AOS opened at $64.70 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $65.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.83. A. O. Smith Corporation has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.39% and a net margin of 13.74%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AOS. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Citigroup cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.29.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.