Stevens Capital Management LP Acquires New Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 3,140 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $268,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 63.2% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,165,000 after purchasing an additional 13,648 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.6% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 8,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the business’s 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 $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now 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. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AOS. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $66.39 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $67.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.23. 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 capitalization of $9.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1 year low of $64.55 and a 1 year high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued 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 (DPR) 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.