International Assets Investment Management LLC Invests $2.64 Million in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 32,069 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth $4,047,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 37,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,498,000 after buying an additional 3,065 shares during the last quarter. FCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 138.7% during the 4th quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 22,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,833,000 after buying an additional 12,923 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 111.7% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 4,004 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE AOS opened at $86.69 on Friday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $63.88 and a 12 month high of $89.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.11 and a 200-day moving average of $79.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $988.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $985.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 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 Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 34.59%.

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.