HighTower Advisors LLC Has $834,000 Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 618 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AOS. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the third quarter worth $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth about $123,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $66.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. A. O. Smith Co. has a one year low of $64.55 and a one year high of $92.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released 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 net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders 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 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced 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 Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced 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 note on Monday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.