Stevens Capital Management LP Has $674,000 Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Stevens Capital Management LP cut its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,783 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AOS. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after buying an additional 1,601 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 393.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 697,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,129,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 7,033 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AOS. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock traded down $4.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.85. The company had a trading volume of 2,380,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,610. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.88 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.73.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.59%.

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.