Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 1,064 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,062 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Huntington National Bank raised 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 buying an additional 134 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.1% during 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 period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 4.3% during 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 period. Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 2.2% during 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 period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during 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 period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AOS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lowered 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 report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $66.91 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.55 and a 1-year high of $92.44. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $67.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

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 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, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

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.