CIBC Asset Management Inc Boosts Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 684.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 138,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,270 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $9,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.8% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.3% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.2% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 7,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $65.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $68.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.62. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The company has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 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.