Founders Financial Alliance LLC Increases Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 38.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 935 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its position in A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 7,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $67.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.96 and a 200-day moving average of $74.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $64.55 and a 12 month high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

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.