Cerity Partners LLC Invests $412,000 in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,225,000 after acquiring an additional 88,025 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $200,958,000 after acquiring an additional 133,339 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,577,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,339,000 after acquiring an additional 112,600 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,343,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,839,000 after acquiring an additional 60,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,276,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,444,000 after acquiring an additional 11,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $82.85 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $63.88 and a one year high of $89.96. 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 firm has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.75.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.