Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Acquires 332 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,803 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 332 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 5.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.3% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 7,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $69.68 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.29. The stock has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $64.55 and a 12 month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

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.