A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Purchased by Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 29.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 124,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,996 shares during the quarter. A. O. Smith comprises approximately 2.1% of Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC owned about 0.08% of A. O. Smith worth $10,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth $58,846,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5,143.3% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 471,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,150,000 after acquiring an additional 462,900 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,120,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $146,599,000 after acquiring an additional 360,409 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 2,296,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $146,694,000 after acquiring an additional 329,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 95.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 627,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,926,000 after purchasing an additional 306,822 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 have sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 over the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded A. O. Smith from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.40.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS traded up $0.40 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.28. 178,497 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 933,549. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $63.40 and a 1-year high of $89.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.75. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $985.89 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.