Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ Acquires New Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,804,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,740,000 after acquiring an additional 225,462 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,225,000 after acquiring an additional 88,025 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $200,958,000 after acquiring an additional 133,339 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.8% in the first quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 2,296,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $146,694,000 after buying an additional 329,539 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.5% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,120,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $146,599,000 after buying an additional 360,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.50.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded up $1.12 on Thursday, reaching $87.58. The company had a trading volume of 439,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,335. The firm has a market cap of $12.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.00. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $89.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $988.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $985.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.