A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) SVP Douglas Samuel Karge Sells 419 Shares

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $65.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.26. 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 cap of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly 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 forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on 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. Oppenheimer decreased their price target 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. Finally, DA Davidson cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Institutional investors 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.