A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Bought by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 174.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,042 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in A. O. Smith by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 18,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 12,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 355,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,277,000 after purchasing an additional 65,735 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 46,416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,166,000 after purchasing an additional 5,972 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $66.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $64.55 and a twelve month high of $92.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AOS. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com raised 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 research note on Friday, March 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

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.