Fiera Capital Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Fiera Capital Corp reduced its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 715,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17,907 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned approximately 0.49% of A. O. Smith worth $48,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AOS opened at $65.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.35 and a 200 day moving average of $76.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.55 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the company’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 value 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 represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the 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 $67,356.90. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.70% 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.