KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 37,800 A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 37,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,578,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $55,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $67.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $64.55 and a 52-week high of $92.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.12. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

Insider Activity

In other A. O. Smith news, 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 transaction of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith 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 approximately $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AOS. Citigroup dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. 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, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.