Bison Wealth LLC Takes Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.2% in the third quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the second quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PAX Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% in the third quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 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 sale, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $86.46 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.00. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $63.88 and a 12-month high of $89.96. The stock has a market cap of $12.73 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 quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $988.10 million for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 34.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.