Cerity Partners LLC Makes New Investment in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 8,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $82.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $63.88 and a twelve month high of $89.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 34.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.