Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 684 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Panagora Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 684 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 36.1% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in A. O. Smith by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AOS. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.67.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $836,990.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,812,929.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,817 shares of company stock valued at $7,977,415 over the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $85.74 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $12.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.27.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $978.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. A. O. Smith’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.16%.

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.