State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 600 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AOS. State Street Corp grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,348,000 after buying an additional 52,593 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,848,000 after buying an additional 87,458 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,143,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,980,000 after acquiring an additional 74,418 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $69.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.95 and a 200 day moving average of $74.43. 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 has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $64.55 and a 12 month high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Insider Activity

In other A. O. Smith news, 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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

About A. O. Smith

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.