A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,738 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,226 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.07% of A. O. Smith worth $6,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock traded down $0.81 on Friday, hitting $65.99. 1,097,764 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,548,583. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.55 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company's fifty day moving average is $68.44 and its 200 day moving average is $75.40.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. On average, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.