Willis Investment Counsel lowered its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 91.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 186,110 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 292,101 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $19,924,000 after buying an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,110,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,089 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $252,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.17.
View Our Latest Report on A. O. Smith
A. O. Smith Stock Performance
AOS traded down $0.47 on Friday, hitting $63.78. 2,217,061 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,269,196. The firm has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.40. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 37.99%.
About A. O. Smith
(
Free Report)
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.
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