Focus Partners Wealth Boosts Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 107.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,907 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,972,000 after buying an additional 12,305 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 124.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 3,712 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $7,015,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 17,442 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $67.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $92.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.47. The stock has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.99%.

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.