Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $151.15 Million Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,215,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 86,708 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $151,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,348,000 after acquiring an additional 52,593 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,143,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,980,000 after acquiring an additional 74,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,137,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,153,000 after acquiring an additional 83,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.7 %

AOS opened at $66.43 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.55 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.88. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

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.