A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Bought by GHP Investment Advisors Inc.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 22.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,358 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in A. O. Smith by 157.2% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 665.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 188.9% in the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at about $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $79.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.99. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.14 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.67.

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.