A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 539,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 126,270 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $36,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,467,000 after purchasing an additional 471,990 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,397,000 after purchasing an additional 365,710 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 769,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,476,000 after purchasing an additional 149,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth about $9,993,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 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 value of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $65.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $64.55 and a 1 year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 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.