Lafayette Investments Inc. Grows Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,804,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,740,000 after acquiring an additional 225,462 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,225,000 after acquiring an additional 88,025 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $200,958,000 after acquiring an additional 133,339 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.8% in the first quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 2,296,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,694,000 after acquiring an additional 329,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.5% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,120,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,599,000 after acquiring an additional 360,409 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total value of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,929.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE AOS traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.59. 215,968 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 948,082. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.05. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The stock has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $985.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 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.