2,532 Shares in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Acquired by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 6,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 2,911 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target 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 decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $83.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $89.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $85.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.98. The stock has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 30.94%. A. O. Smith’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 33.16%.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,200. 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 owned by insiders.

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.