A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Acquired by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,022 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $4,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,368,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,341,000 after purchasing an additional 231,259 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,180,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $386,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 24,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after buying an additional 4,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 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 $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their position. 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 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 $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Oppenheimer cut their price target on 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.0 %

AOS stock opened at $65.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $64.55 and a 52 week high of $92.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced 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%. Equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

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.