Meeder Asset Management Inc. Has $229,000 Stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 61.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,481 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $339,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at $96,180,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter worth $74,180,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 242.8% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,787,000 after acquiring an additional 444,307 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.41. 1,262,954 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,593,591. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.84. 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 capitalization of $10.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AOS shares. UBS Group increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.