Caprock Group LLC Invests $1.23 Million in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 17,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,226,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 44,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 988.9% during the second quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AOS shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 target price on A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.0%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $80.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.94. A. O. Smith Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.