Quarry LP Invests $479,000 in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Quarry LP purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 7,028 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $96,180,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $112,467,000 after buying an additional 471,990 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Finally, Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth about $19,918,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on 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 raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.50.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $65.05 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $65.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.57. The stock has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a PEG 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS 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%. Equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 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.

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