Millburn Ridgefield LLC DE Takes $251,000 Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Millburn Ridgefield LLC DE purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $96,180,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at about $74,180,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 242.8% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,787,000 after purchasing an additional 444,307 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $178,587,000 after purchasing an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $65.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $950.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.17.

About A. O. Smith

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.