A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) SVP Darrell Schuh Sells 356 Shares of Stock

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) SVP Darrell Schuh sold 356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total value of $28,440.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $263,237.55. This represents a 9.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $79.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.50. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.06. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. The company had revenue of $912.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.97 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 939,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,393,000 after buying an additional 154,201 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 4,414 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at about $386,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 32.7% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 52,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,424,000 after acquiring an additional 12,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.9% during the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 price objective on A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.00.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.