Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 76,037 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,991,142 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 76,037 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.34% of A. O. Smith worth $164,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 628.0% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in A. O. Smith by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AOS. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $84.31. 558,107 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 990,888. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $63.88 and a 1-year high of $89.96. The stock has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50-day moving average is $85.97 and its 200-day moving average is $80.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 30.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Company 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.