A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Stake Lowered by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 40.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,876 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $3,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AOS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $108,176,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 94.4% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 548,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,350,000 after purchasing an additional 266,558 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 460.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 264,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,492,000 after purchasing an additional 217,356 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 30.3% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 769,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,884,000 after purchasing an additional 178,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 63.8% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 454,446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,053,000 after purchasing an additional 176,987 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 94,817 shares of company stock worth $7,977,415. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS traded down $0.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 791,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 942,121. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.27. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $63.88 and a 12 month high of $89.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.91.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 30.94%. The company had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.67.

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.