Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 40.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 42,407 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $4,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $962,985,000 after buying an additional 148,432 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,751,000 after buying an additional 111,612 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $166,728,000 after buying an additional 236,880 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $65.65 on Friday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.96 and a 200 day moving average of $66.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.21.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.74% and a return on equity of 28.39%. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given 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 $75.29.

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.