A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 8.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 375 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $108,176,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 71.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,173,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,716,000 after acquiring an additional 487,742 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,257,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $103,693,000 after acquiring an additional 317,389 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth $22,288,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 623,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,390,000 after acquiring an additional 168,911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AOS. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.67.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 2.0 %

AOS opened at $83.72 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.14 and a one year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.82 and its 200-day moving average is $84.09. The company has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.16%.

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.