A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,344 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $96,180,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $178,587,000 after purchasing an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Finally, Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,918,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.4 %

AOS stock opened at $65.05 on Monday. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their price target 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.50.

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.