Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Buys 1,435 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,117,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $962,985,000 after purchasing an additional 148,432 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,704,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,880,000 after buying an additional 995,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,698,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,751,000 after buying an additional 111,612 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.50.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $65.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $65.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.68. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 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 transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,562.85. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 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 $27,507.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares in the company, valued at $180,471.85. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About A. O. Smith

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.