New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Sells 180 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC decreased its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 460.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 245,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,746,000 after purchasing an additional 201,700 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $7,015,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 2,578 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $675,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 252,889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,249,000 after acquiring an additional 11,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $70.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.73. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.