Mather Group LLC. Raises Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 210,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,239 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. owned 0.15% of A. O. Smith worth $14,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 939,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,393,000 after acquiring an additional 154,201 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 526,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,534,000 after purchasing an additional 56,386 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,265,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,952,000 after purchasing an additional 13,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 72,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after purchasing an additional 8,487 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 target price on A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,732.39. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $65.53 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.27. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $81.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. 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 (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.06. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. The company had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders 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 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

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.