Oak Thistle LLC Purchases 25,147 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Oak Thistle LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 230.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,147 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,412,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,058,047,000 after buying an additional 182,876 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.4% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,850,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $356,050,000 after buying an additional 157,856 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $235,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,543 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,508,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,182,000 after purchasing an additional 109,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,082,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $152,912,000 after purchasing an additional 36,122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,201 shares in the company, valued at $163,732.39. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $64.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.35. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $912.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.51% and a net margin of 14.26%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AOS. Wall Street Zen cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.00.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.