A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Holdings Trimmed by Stanley Laman Group Ltd.

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 628 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth about $1,258,000. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,047,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 246,964 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,360,000 after purchasing an additional 48,325 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 37,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after buying an additional 3,065 shares during the period. Finally, FCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 138.7% in the 4th quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 22,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after buying an additional 12,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock traded down $4.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $82.85. 2,380,900 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 982,610. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $63.88 and a twelve month high of $89.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.75.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. A. O. Smith’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,929.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 in the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.