Entropy Technologies LP Acquires New Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,502 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,126,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,348,000 after acquiring an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,458 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,467,000 after purchasing an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,137,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,153,000 after purchasing an additional 83,495 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $65.73 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $64.94 and a 1 year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.39.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. As a group, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

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.