A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,508,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 109,654 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $184,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3,125.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 44,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP raised its position in A. O. Smith by 988.9% in the 2nd quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,732.39. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.3%

AOS opened at $71.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $81.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.81. The firm has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.33.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AOS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.