Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 788 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.3% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 2.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $66.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.16. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $64.55 and a 52-week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors 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 yield of 2.04%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.