Yousif Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 113,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,931 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $7,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,972,000 after buying an additional 12,305 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 124.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,712 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,015,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,371,000 after acquiring an additional 17,442 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AOS. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.5%

AOS opened at $65.43 on Thursday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.59.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

About A. O. Smith

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.