Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Purchases New Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total value of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 94,817 shares of company stock valued at $7,977,415 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AOS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $85.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.74. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.88 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.16%.

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.