Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys 5,113 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 768.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AOS. American International Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 33,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 38,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,209,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $84.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.14 and a 1-year high of $89.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

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

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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