Greenleaf Trust Boosts Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 628.0% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 36.1% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 393.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $86.89 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $63.88 and a 12-month high of $89.96. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $988.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $985.89 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 in the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.50.

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.