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

Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring 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.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday. Five investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock traded down $0.05 on Monday, hitting $65.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,426,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,289,556. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $65.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.70. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.45.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $963.90 million during 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.99%.

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.