SlateStone Wealth LLC Buys 425 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AOS. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Huntington National Bank raised its position in A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AOS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Citigroup reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In related news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 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 transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $66.91 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $64.55 and a twelve month high of $92.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.84.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

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.