Everence Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $1,726,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in A. O. Smith by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 185,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,409,000 after purchasing an additional 50,798 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $1,372,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% during 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 buying an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth approximately $730,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.17.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $68.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $67.17 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

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.