A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Bought by Nicholas Company Inc.

Nicholas Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 355,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,735 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc. owned about 0.25% of A. O. Smith worth $24,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 7,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $716,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 2.2 %

AOS stock opened at $66.91 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $64.55 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.90. 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 (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. On average, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.47%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

About A. O. Smith

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.