A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) Stock: Insider Kevin Wheeler Sells 14,675 Shares

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Director Kevin Wheeler sold 14,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.64, for a total transaction of $963,267.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 128,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,424,762.72. This trade represents a 10.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $64.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.03. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $54.16 and a 12-month high of $81.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.40.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $940.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.20 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 27.66%. The company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 42.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. Longbow Research cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (down from $75.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings raised A. O. Smith from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. StoneRidge PMG Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $499,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 111.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,677 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 12,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 118.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 15,818 shares during the period. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel increased its position in A. O. Smith by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 80,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,565,000 after purchasing an additional 4,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation is a manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its portfolio includes gas and electric storage water heaters, tankless water heaters, boilers, heat pump water heaters, water filtration systems, water softeners and reverse-osmosis products.

The company markets products under the A. O. Smith brand and other regional brands, serving applications ranging from homes and apartments to hotels, hospitals, schools, manufacturing facilities and other commercial properties.