Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Has $968,000 Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 195.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,831 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AOS. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,212,000 after buying an additional 22,859 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 37.2% during the fourth 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. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $228,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 79,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,519,000 after purchasing an additional 22,483 shares during the period. Finally, Cim LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,165,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $90.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.04 and a 200-day moving average of $84.02. The company has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $64.86 and a 52 week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on AOS shares. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.67.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

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

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.