A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) SVP Sells $82,126.56 in Stock

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) SVP Darrell Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,732.39. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of AOS stock traded down $1.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $73.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,474,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,380,462. The company has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.33. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $81.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.81. 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 (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $912.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.97 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $69.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 target price on A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth approximately $336,000. Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,559,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $304,947,000 after acquiring an additional 37,621 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 351.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 152,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,213,000 after purchasing an additional 118,901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.