C WorldWide Group Holding A S Sells 400,956 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S cut its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 75.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 128,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 400,956 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $8,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 191.2% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 46,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 30,670 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 124.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 3,712 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 4,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 654 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 684.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 138,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,462,000 after buying an additional 121,270 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on 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. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE AOS opened at $65.99 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.32. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.55 and a one year high of $92.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS 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%. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.47%.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.70% 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.