Amalgamated Bank Raises Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position 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 worth $47,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 39.2% in 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. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $86.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.27. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $89.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.78.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of A. O. Smith 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 sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the 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 directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 94,817 shares of company stock valued at $7,977,415. 2.70% of the stock is currently 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.