Raiffeisen Bank International AG Purchases Shares of 4,222 A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG has made a new investment in A. O. Smith Corporation, purchasing 4,222 shares valued at approximately $277,000.
• A. O. Smith reported a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42% in its latest quarterly earnings, exceeding analysts' EPS estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AOS. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 69.9% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 22.1% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,181 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth approximately $92,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AOS stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,357,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,229. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $67.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.79. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.06 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.88%.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About A. O. Smith

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.