Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 5,732 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,732 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.11% of A. O. Smith worth $10,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $123,000. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of AOS opened at $64.46 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.70 and a 200 day moving average of $71.39. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.45.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AOS. Citigroup decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

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.