Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $84.05 Million Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,232,276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 31,937 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.85% of A. O. Smith worth $84,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AOS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $96,180,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,880,000 after purchasing an additional 995,043 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,467,000 after purchasing an additional 471,990 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Finally, Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $19,918,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $66.92 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.44. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.50.

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.