Blueshift Asset Management LLC Invests $521,000 in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 7,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 174.4% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,829,000 after purchasing an additional 17,042 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 18,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 12,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $860,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 355,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,277,000 after acquiring an additional 65,735 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $66.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.54. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.55 and a one year high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. On average, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

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.