A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Purchased by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 833.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,649 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PAX Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AOS shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.67.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,072.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,072.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction 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 $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have 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 Stock Down 1.6 %

AOS stock opened at $85.15 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $63.88 and a 52-week high of $89.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $985.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s 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.