Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $7.02 Million in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 102,842 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $7,015,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of A. O. Smith at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,180,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,880,000 after acquiring an additional 995,043 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,368,443 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $93,341,000 after acquiring an additional 231,259 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 362.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 270,285 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,436,000 after acquiring an additional 211,866 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded up $2.20 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.98. The company had a trading volume of 444,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,124,013. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. The firm's fifty day moving average is $65.25 and its 200-day moving average is $69.45. The company has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased 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 report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer decreased 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.50.

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.