Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 77,261 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Cannell & Spears LLC cut its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 95.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 77,261 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during 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. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’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 $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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $65.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.71. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $64.55 and a twelve month high of $92.45. The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its 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%. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer decreased 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 report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

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.