Pembroke Management LTD Lowers Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Pembroke Management LTD lessened its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 44.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 116,322 shares during the period. Pembroke Management LTD owned about 0.10% of A. O. Smith worth $9,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,228 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,828 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 2,419 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 648.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,072,000 after buying an additional 39,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AOS traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,097,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,468,661. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.55 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis 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 (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

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.