C WorldWide Group Holding A S Has $8.73 Million Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S cut its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 75.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 400,956 shares during the quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S owned about 0.09% of A. O. Smith worth $8,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after acquiring an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,348,000 after acquiring an additional 52,593 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,458 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,137,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,153,000 after acquiring an additional 83,495 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $65.99 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.32. The company has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer decreased 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

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.