Bank of New Hampshire Sells 1,085 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Bank of New Hampshire lessened its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,085 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 548,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,350,000 after buying an additional 266,558 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 460.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 264,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,492,000 after purchasing an additional 217,356 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 30.3% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 769,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,884,000 after acquiring an additional 178,707 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 63.8% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 454,446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,053,000 after buying an additional 176,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $200,958,000 after buying an additional 133,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 4.8 %

NYSE AOS traded down $4.18 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $82.82. 2,380,680 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 981,957. 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 company has a market cap of $12.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.73. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $89.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the firm’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 owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AOS shares. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

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.