A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Stake Boosted by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 233.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,147 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 19,017 shares during the quarter. FORA Capital LLC's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 392,463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,770,000 after buying an additional 55,848 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 738,103 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,346,000 after buying an additional 132,923 shares during the last quarter. Crestline Management LP lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 911.3% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 41,482 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,829,000 after buying an additional 37,380 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,863,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $2,090,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer cut 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.26. 728,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,150,022. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.80, 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. A. O. Smith's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 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.