Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 527 shares during the quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,212,000 after purchasing an additional 22,859 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 623,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,390,000 after purchasing an additional 168,911 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $228,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 79,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,519,000 after purchasing an additional 22,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $3,165,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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 200-day simple moving average of $84.00. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.14 and a one year 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 capitalization of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

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

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.