Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Buys 64,648 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 224.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,648 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of A. O. Smith worth $6,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 939,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,393,000 after purchasing an additional 154,201 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 2.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 20,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 52.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 4,414 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at $386,000. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter valued at $196,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.7%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $80.46 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $80.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.54 and its 200 day moving average is $70.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. 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 (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. The firm had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.00.

About A. O. Smith

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.