Allstate Corp Purchases Shares of 3,403 A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,403 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DnB Asset Management AS grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 31,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 65,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,022 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.3% during the fourth 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 acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,180,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AOS shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $66.21 on Thursday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $64.55 and a 52 week high of $92.45. 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 $9.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.67.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its 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 net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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.

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.