Blueshift Asset Management LLC Buys New Shares in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted 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 purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake 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 worth $877,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted 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 purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $66.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.54. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

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.