Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 143,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,411,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 143.7% in the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 161.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 100,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AOS. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $68.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $78.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.83.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.88%.

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.