Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Reduces Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,065 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.06% of A. O. Smith worth $7,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $37,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 628.0% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 393.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AOS. Northcoast Research upgraded A. O. Smith from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In related 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 value of $65,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total transaction of $5,092,403.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $65,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,691,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 over the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AOS opened at $86.99 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $83.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.09. The stock has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $63.88 and a 12 month high of $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $985.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.59%.

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.