Aigen Investment Management LP Purchases New Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 25,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth approximately $82,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $65.61 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52 week low of $64.55 and a 52 week high of $92.44. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.65.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AOS. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.86.

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.