Quadrature Capital Ltd Buys New Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $403,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.9% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 9,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $610,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 17.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 804,424 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,197,000 after purchasing an additional 120,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $200,958,000 after purchasing an additional 133,339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $84.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $64.14 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.08.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 30.94%. The company had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.