D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 30th, 2023

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,976 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AOS. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $66,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 47.7% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 48.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $68.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.28. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $46.58 and a 52-week high of $71.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $966.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $922.05 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 28.78%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AOS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. TheStreet upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Michael M. Larsen purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.89 per share, for a total transaction of $267,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,218.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Michael M. Larsen purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.89 per share, for a total transaction of $267,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,218.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 12,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $826,768.73. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,412 shares in the company, valued at $768,141.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,883 shares of company stock worth $4,053,126. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

(Get Rating)

A. O. Smith Corp. manufactures residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products. It operates through the North America and Rest of World segments. The North America segment manufactures and markets comprehensive lines of residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, and tanks.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AOS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS)

Receive News & Ratings for A. O. Smith Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for A. O. Smith and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.