Advisory Alpha LLC Purchases 274 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $71.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $67.17 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.02.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AOS. Oppenheimer upgraded A. O. Smith from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.14.

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.