Ridgewood Investments LLC Acquires 4,406 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Key Points

• Ridgewood Investments LLC significantly increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 503.0%, owning 5,282 shares valued at approximately $345,000 at the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have set new price targets for A. O. Smith, with Citigroup lowering theirs from $69.00 to $65.00, while Stifel Nicolaus raised it from $78.00 to $81.00, maintaining a "buy" rating.
• A. O. Smith announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.89%, with the dividend payment scheduled for August 15th.

Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 503.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,406 shares during the quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the first 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. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $251,751,000 after purchasing an additional 111,612 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $178,587,000 after acquiring an additional 417,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $166,728,000 after acquiring an additional 236,880 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.3%

A. O. Smith stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $70.70. The stock had a trading volume of 638,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,582,898. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.88%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith 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 transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.43.

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.