Level Four Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,022 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $4,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $962,985,000 after buying an additional 148,432 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,348,000 after purchasing an additional 52,593 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% during 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $96,180,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AOS. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on 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, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 2.0 %

AOS opened at $65.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $64.55 and a 12 month high of $92.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.99.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

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.