New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Sells 180 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $339,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,587,000 after purchasing an additional 417,595 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $166,728,000 after purchasing an additional 236,880 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,058,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $140,426,000 after purchasing an additional 70,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 0.8% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,662,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,679,000 after purchasing an additional 13,954 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $70.55 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $92.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $997.89 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.43.

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.