A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) VP Sells $67,356.90 in Stock

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS traded up $0.24 on Tuesday, hitting $65.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 749,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,469,688. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $64.94 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The company has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.68 and a 200-day moving average of $76.39.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AOS. 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. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $962,985,000 after buying an additional 148,432 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after buying an additional 87,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,467,000 after buying an additional 471,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% 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.