Bridgeworth LLC Buys New Shares in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Bridgeworth LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PAX Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total value of $5,092,403.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,929.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.0 %

A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $86.10. 536,242 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 933,705. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.59. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.88 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $83.95 and its 200-day moving average is $78.09.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $985.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 34.59%.

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.