A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC

Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,918 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,686 shares during the quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $64.03. 2,228,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,234,390. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company's 50 day moving average price is $65.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.90. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. A. O. Smith's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid 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 2.12%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

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.