A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 422,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,089 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.28% of A. O. Smith worth $34,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 628.0% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 393.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of AOS opened at $82.85 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $85.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.75. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $63.88 and a twelve month high of $89.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.70% 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.