136,499 Shares in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Purchased by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 136,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,311,000. A. O. Smith comprises 0.4% of Edgestream Partners L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned approximately 0.09% of A. O. Smith as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth $268,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 11.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 6.7% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 34,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $240,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $68.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.59. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $64.55 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

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

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.