Paradoxiom Capital L.P. Takes Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Paradoxiom Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 75,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,164,000. A. O. Smith makes up 2.1% of Paradoxiom Capital L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Arrowroot Family Office LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AOS. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $70.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $92.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.70.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.99%.

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.