Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Purchases 382 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 31.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 10,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 833.2% in the fourth quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 6,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 5,649 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 976,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,465,000 after acquiring an additional 29,612 shares during the period. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $1,258,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on 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, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.50.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AOS opened at $86.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.19. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $63.88 and a twelve month high of $89.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $988.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $985.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 34.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of A. O. Smith 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith 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.