A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) VP Benjamin A. Otchere Sells 4,285 Shares

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) VP Benjamin A. Otchere sold 4,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $299,950.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,290. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $69.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.91. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $46.58 and a 12-month high of $71.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.17. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.78% and a net margin of 6.49%. The firm had revenue of $966.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $922.05 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.95%.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $71,955,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $65,468,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,846,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,069,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,218,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,203,000 after purchasing an additional 515,752 shares during the last quarter. 77.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $65.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Loop Capital lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $67.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.13.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

(Get Rating)

A. O. Smith Corp. manufactures residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products. It operates through the North America and Rest of World segments. The North America segment manufactures and markets comprehensive lines of residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, and tanks.