Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Has $71.55 Million Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 867,843 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 69,797 shares during the quarter. A. O. Smith makes up approximately 1.9% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.58% of A. O. Smith worth $71,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 628.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 36.1% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 393.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in A. O. Smith by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 9,890 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total transaction of $836,990.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $800,176.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.67.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded up $1.41 on Monday, hitting $84.31. 1,479,027 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 992,737. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.09. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $63.88 and a one year high of $89.96. The company has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The company's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 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.