37,800 Shares in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 37,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,578,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AOS. State Street Corp raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $321,348,000 after acquiring an additional 52,593 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,402,497 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $95,664,000 after purchasing an additional 35,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,972,000 after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 762,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,080,691. 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 company has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The business's 50 day moving average price is $67.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.92. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.47%.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith 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 $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.