Mach 1 Financial Group LLC Takes $474,000 Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 628.0% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $83.10. 92,813 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,379. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $85.80 and its 200-day moving average is $80.09. The firm has a market cap of $12.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $63.88 and a twelve month high of $89.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 30.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.