Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 88,048 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Wells Fargo & Company MN decreased its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 354,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 88,048 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.24% of A. O. Smith worth $24,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 72.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,258,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $524,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 52,593 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.33.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $64.46 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.70 and a 200-day moving average of $71.39. The company has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released 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 predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.47%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

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

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.