A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Loudon Investment Management LLC

Loudon Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,991,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,138,000 after buying an additional 75,898 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,973,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $176,589,000 after buying an additional 106,329 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,326,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,677,000 after acquiring an additional 68,787 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $108,176,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,212,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,996,000 after buying an additional 15,698 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.2 %

AOS traded down $0.95 on Friday, reaching $76.91. 864,869 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 939,155. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $64.14 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $82.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.05.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

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.