Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 25,573 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,573 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned approximately 0.09% of A. O. Smith worth $8,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $123,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AOS shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price target 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 raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of 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. Citigroup lowered 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, UBS Group cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of AOS opened at $65.59 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.95. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.55 and a one year high of $92.45. The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 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, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

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

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.