Sei Investments Co. Raises Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,402,497 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,355 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.97% of A. O. Smith worth $95,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 27.6% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 84,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,569,000 after buying an additional 14,587 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter worth $1,684,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,234 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,165,000 after buying an additional 13,648 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % 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.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AOS. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AOS traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $66.98. 764,752 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,026,310. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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%. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid 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 yield of 2.03%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.47%.

A. O. Smith Company 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.