Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Invests $1.15 Million in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 16,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,147,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. KBC Group NV increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 471,990 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 92.4% in the third 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 buying an additional 365,710 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after acquiring an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $52,476,000 after acquiring an additional 149,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $962,985,000 after acquiring an additional 148,432 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. This 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.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $67.33 on Thursday. A. O. Smith Co. has a twelve month low of $64.55 and a twelve month high of $92.45. The company has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.12.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released 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, sell-side 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 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.