State of Alaska Department of Revenue Decreases Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,540 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $58,846,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 5,143.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 471,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,150,000 after purchasing an additional 462,900 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 20.5% during the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,120,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $146,599,000 after purchasing an additional 360,409 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 16.8% during the first quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 2,296,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $146,694,000 after purchasing an additional 329,539 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 627,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,926,000 after purchasing an additional 306,822 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of A. O. Smith 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 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock worth $8,042,535. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $86.99 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $63.88 and a 1-year high of $89.96. 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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.09. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $988.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $985.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Northcoast Research raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

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.