Man Group plc Purchases 68,214 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Man Group plc lifted its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 82.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 151,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 68,214 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $10,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 99.9% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 2,986 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 232,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,828,000 after purchasing an additional 75,281 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 7,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 213,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 118,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,091,000 after purchasing an additional 11,128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AOS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $70.51 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $65.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.51. The company has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.