Xponance Inc. Has $1.36 Million Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Xponance Inc. trimmed its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,508 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,941 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AOS. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 628.0% during the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 393.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.0 %

AOS opened at $87.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $85.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.73. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $63.88 and a twelve month high of $89.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $988.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $985.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 34.59%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total value of $5,092,403.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

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.