A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. cut its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 39.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,387 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Arrowroot Family Office LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:AOS opened at $68.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.70. 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 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly 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 had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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. UBS Group dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.17.

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.