Voloridge Investment Management LLC Buys 444,307 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 242.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 627,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 444,307 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned about 0.43% of A. O. Smith worth $42,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AOS. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth about $84,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $120,000. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.5%

AOS stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $67.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,270,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,175,420. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.25. The company has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. A. O. Smith's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued 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 2.03%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is 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.