Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 165,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,533 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $10,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Ellevest Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 189.5% in the 1st quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $56.03 on Monday. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $51.91 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.
A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business had revenue of $977.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 28th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.22%.
Several brokerages recently commented on AOS. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $79.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 20th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.40.
A. O. Smith Company Profile (Get Rating)
A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas, heat pump and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. It operates through two segments, North America and Rest of World. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels and motels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; commercial boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as residential boilers for homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, on-the-go filtration bottles, point-of-use carbon, and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.
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