Ridgewood Investments LLC Makes New Investment in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,726,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,409,000 after buying an additional 50,798 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,372,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $730,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.7 %

AOS stock opened at $67.49 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $71.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.17 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AOS. UBS Group upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.17.

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.