National Bank of Canada FI Buys 35,189 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 63.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,601 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,189 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.06% of A. O. Smith worth $5,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,404,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $941,462,000 after acquiring an additional 286,316 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 67.3% in 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 buying an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $166,728,000 after buying an additional 236,880 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,058,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $140,426,000 after buying an additional 70,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on 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 reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.18. 1,251,606 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,575,294. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. A. O. Smith Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.81.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

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.