Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $834,000 Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP increased its position 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 worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position 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 worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter worth $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AOS. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.67.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AOS traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $84.93. 349,766 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 953,837. The company has a market cap of $12.46 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.14 and a one year high of $92.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.16%.

A. O. Smith 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.