Oak Thistle LLC Increases Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 230.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,147 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 939,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,393,000 after purchasing an additional 154,201 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 78.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 963 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,212,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 211,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,847,000 after purchasing an additional 21,657 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares in the company, valued at $163,732.39. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $64.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.75. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $81.86. The company has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.35.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. The firm had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.