Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Purchases New Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,433 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AOS. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 99.9% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,975 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 232,047 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,828,000 after purchasing an additional 75,281 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 7,531 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 213,252 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 118,624 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,091,000 after acquiring an additional 11,128 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AOS traded up $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $67.31. 1,383,863 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,169,025. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.86 and a 200 day moving average of $68.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup cut 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.17.

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.