Xponance Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Xponance Inc. lessened its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 18,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,284,000 after buying an additional 2,473 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 12,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $860,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 355,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,277,000 after acquiring an additional 65,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 46,416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,166,000 after acquiring an additional 5,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AOS. Citigroup lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE AOS opened at $66.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.55 and a one year high of $92.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

A. O. Smith 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.