Commerce Bank Lowers Stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Commerce Bank lowered its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,319 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $6,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,101,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,225,000 after buying an additional 88,025 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,038,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $200,958,000 after purchasing an additional 133,339 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,991,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $164,150,000 after purchasing an additional 76,037 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,577,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,339,000 after purchasing an additional 112,600 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,343,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,839,000 after purchasing an additional 60,337 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $2,048,020.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 94,817 shares of company stock valued at $7,977,415. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $84.78 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $86.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.13. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $63.88 and a 12-month high of $89.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 30.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.67.

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.