A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Arjuna Capital

Arjuna Capital decreased its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,723 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 157.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 665.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 188.9% in the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at about $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,319. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE AOS traded up $1.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $83.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,007,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 841,113. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.14 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

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

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.