Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 44.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138,169 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,582 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.10% of A. O. Smith worth $9,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,371,000 after acquiring an additional 17,442 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,578,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 74,433 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,077,000 after buying an additional 5,390 shares during the period. 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 worth $962,985,000 after buying an additional 148,432 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth approximately $237,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE:AOS traded down $1.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.06. 1,924,083 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,586,319. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.76.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AOS. Citigroup reduced 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.57.

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.