Addison Advisors LLC Sells 387 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Addison Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 34.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 387 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $50,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AOS. KBC Group NV lifted its position 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 buying an additional 471,990 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,397,000 after buying an additional 365,710 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 769,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,476,000 after purchasing an additional 149,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,993,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” 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 research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. The trade was 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 insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock opened at $66.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $64.55 and a 12-month 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.12.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

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.