37,810 Shares in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Purchased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 37,810 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,579,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% during 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 last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,397,000 after acquiring an additional 365,710 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $693,630,000 after acquiring an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 769,325 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $52,476,000 after acquiring an additional 149,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $9,993,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

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

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A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE AOS traded down $0.24 on Friday, reaching $66.47. The company had a trading volume of 4,061,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,026,199. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $64.55 and a 1-year high of $92.45. The company's fifty day moving average is $67.72 and its 200-day moving average is $73.42.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its 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, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is 37.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AOS. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.