Stifel Financial Corp Reduces Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Stifel Financial Corp trimmed its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,911 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,412 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.17% of A. O. Smith worth $16,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,569 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at about $1,726,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $235,000. Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AOS traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $67.22. The company had a trading volume of 329,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,490,537. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.44. The business's 50-day moving average is $65.30 and its 200-day moving average is $69.43. The stock has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. The business had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. 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.