A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Position Increased by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 65.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 325,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,729 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.22% of A. O. Smith worth $22,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $123,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $68.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.85. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid 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 1.99%. A. O. Smith’s dividend 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.