Natixis Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 200,876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,473 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $13,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $877,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.1 %

AOS opened at $67.61 on Thursday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $64.55 and a 1 year high of $92.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.59. 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 company has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’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 $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith 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.