A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Acquired by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 995,043 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 3.24% of A. O. Smith worth $320,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS traded down $0.74 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 320,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,116,491. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $65.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.09. The firm has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In related news, 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 directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective 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 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. 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, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.00.

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.