A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Purchased by Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 4,463.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,796 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,669 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in A. O. Smith by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,863,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,803 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of AOS traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,276,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,253,777. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. 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 issued 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 firm had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.99%.

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.