A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AOS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.7 %

AOS stock opened at $66.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.05%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 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 $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.