Lafayette Investments Inc. Purchases 200 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $58,846,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 5,143.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 471,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,150,000 after acquiring an additional 462,900 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 20.5% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,120,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,599,000 after acquiring an additional 360,409 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG grew its position in A. O. Smith by 16.8% in the first quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 2,296,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,694,000 after acquiring an additional 329,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 95.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 627,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,926,000 after acquiring an additional 306,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total value of $5,092,403.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,929.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 over the last ninety days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $86.59. The company had a trading volume of 215,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 948,082. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.88 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $985.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.59%.

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.