Harfst & Associates Inc. Acquires 3,291 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Harfst & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on 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. UBS Group dropped their price target on 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $66.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.06. The company has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $64.55 and a 52-week high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. 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.