Bank of New Hampshire Cuts Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Bank of New Hampshire cut its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 206 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 39.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $84.14 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $64.14 and a 12-month high of $89.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $84.29 and its 200 day moving average is $83.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.18.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. The business 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

About A. O. Smith

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.