Welch & Forbes LLC Grows Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Welch & Forbes LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 550,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,913 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned approximately 0.37% of A. O. Smith worth $45,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in A. O. Smith by 39.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AOS traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $85.15. 541,379 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 986,026. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The company had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. A. O. Smith’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

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.