Earnest Partners LLC Purchases 70,989 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,058,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 70,989 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 1.42% of A. O. Smith worth $140,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,454 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 9,198 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of AOS traded up $2.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $66.92. The company had a trading volume of 2,687,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,131,198. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. A. O. Smith's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

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.