Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc Sells 1,264 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,264 shares during the period. A. O. Smith comprises 1.5% of Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc owned approximately 0.05% of A. O. Smith worth $6,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $108,176,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 71.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,173,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,716,000 after purchasing an additional 487,742 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,257,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $103,693,000 after purchasing an additional 317,389 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth about $22,288,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 623,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,390,000 after purchasing an additional 168,911 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.67.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at $194,319. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock opened at $83.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.07. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.14 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.09. The company has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.04% and a net margin of 14.67%. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.16%.

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.