MBB Public Markets I LLC Purchases New Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 9,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,387,000 after buying an additional 72,856 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 177.4% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 14,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 57.3% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 23,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,000 after buying an additional 8,465 shares during the period. Distillate Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 100,431.5% during the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 162,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,319,000 after buying an additional 162,699 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,409,000 after buying an additional 50,798 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $88.94 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.86 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 33.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AOS. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.67.

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.