Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Cuts Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,681 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,368,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,341,000 after purchasing an additional 231,259 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $96,180,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $386,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 24,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after buying an additional 4,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $65.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. The firm 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.92.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In related news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective 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. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Company 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.