Westwood Wealth Management Buys New Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Westwood Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3,125.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of AOS stock opened at $65.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.51% and a net margin of 14.26%.The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares in the company, valued at $163,732.39. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.