Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Buys 382 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 31.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,258,000. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at $4,047,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 37,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065 shares during the period. FCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 138.7% in the 4th quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 22,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 12,923 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $86.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.59. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $85.22 and a 200-day moving average of $79.19.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $988.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $985.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. A. O. Smith’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 34.59%.

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.