CX Institutional Invests $113,000 in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

CX Institutional bought a new position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 684.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 138,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,462,000 after purchasing an additional 121,270 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 4,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.7%

AOS opened at $64.25 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.84 and its 200-day moving average is $67.28. The company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AOS. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith 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.