Royal Bank of Canada Sells 40,196 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Royal Bank of Canada cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 529,309 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 40,196 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.37% of A. O. Smith worth $36,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $84,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $120,000. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wall Street Zen raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.9%

AOS stock traded up $1.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 650,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,173,465. The company has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The business's 50 day moving average price is $65.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued 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 1.99%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is 37.99%.

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.