State of Wyoming Takes $286,000 Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,188 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock traded down $3.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $65.06. The stock had a trading volume of 969,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,177,074. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.20. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 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.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 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.