Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.2% during the third quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the third quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.4% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 8,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE AOS opened at $83.21 on Monday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $63.88 and a 12 month high of $89.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.98. The company has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The company had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued 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 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 over the last ninety days. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.