Wealth Alliance Sells 147 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Wealth Alliance cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AOS. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 157.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 665.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 188.9% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at $109,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $82.89 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $64.14 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $12.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.98.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.16%.

A. O. Smith 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.