A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Stock Position Raised by SlateStone Wealth LLC

SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 40.1% in 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 last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,397,000 after buying an additional 365,710 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 769,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,476,000 after buying an additional 149,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,993,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 2.2 %

AOS stock opened at $66.91 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.84. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $64.55 and a 52-week 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.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

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.