A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,075 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 204,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,947,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 777,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,016,000 after purchasing an additional 21,503 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $64.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.10. The firm has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.17.

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.