1,788 Shares in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Acquired by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 628.0% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 393.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in 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. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. 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, April 17th. 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. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 over the last quarter. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $87.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.73. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.59%.

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.