Aviso Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 11,800 A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Aviso Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 11,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $805,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at about $55,000. Huntington National Bank raised its position in A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $66.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $64.55 and a 12 month high of $92.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

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.