Boston Trust Walden Corp Purchases 21,503 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 777,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 21,503 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.54% of A. O. Smith worth $53,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $67.27 on Monday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $65.53 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The company has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

About A. O. Smith

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.