Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases Shares of 7,411 A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $606,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 217.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 31,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,558,000 after purchasing an additional 21,266 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 109,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,005,000 after buying an additional 40,901 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,212,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,996,000 after acquiring an additional 15,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 192,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,861,000 after acquiring an additional 5,463 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,319. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $79.39 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.00. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.14 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The company has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.