A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,076 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 157.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 665.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 188.9% during the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AOS opened at $78.46 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $64.14 and a 52-week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.16%.

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.