Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 306,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,543 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of A. O. Smith worth $20,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $962,985,000 after buying an additional 148,432 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $251,751,000 after buying an additional 111,612 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew 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 valued at $178,587,000 after acquiring an additional 417,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $166,728,000 after purchasing an additional 236,880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $68.00. 1,935,512 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,296,598. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $66.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.58.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.39% and a net margin of 13.74%. A. O. Smith's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.99%.

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.