Atwater Malick LLC Buys 4,129 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Atwater Malick LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the quarter. A. O. Smith makes up approximately 2.6% of Atwater Malick LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $7,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,972,000 after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 124.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,712 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $7,015,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 17,442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.8%

AOS opened at $63.78 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.45. The stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share 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. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.99%.

A. O. Smith Company 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.