A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) VP Robert J. Heideman Sells 1,026 Shares of Stock

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) 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 value of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $65.97 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.94 and a one year high of $92.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 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%. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AOS. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,467,000 after purchasing an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,397,000 after buying an additional 365,710 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,060,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 769,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,476,000 after acquiring an additional 149,113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.