Board Member at Beleaguered Burrito Chain Buys Shares After Barron’s Releases Grim Cover Story, Plus Other Noteworthy Insider Trading Activity

Long-Serving Board Member of Leading Manufacturer of Water Heaters Sells Shares

A member of A. O. Smith Corp (NYSE:AOS)’s Board offloaded a sizable block of shares at the beginning of the week. Paul W. Jones, a Director at the company since 2004, discarded 44,490 shares on Monday at a price of $49.47 per share. Mr. Jones currently owns a total of 145,233 shares following the Monday sale.

The shares of the manufacturer of residential and commercial gas, gas tankless and electric water heaters, as well as water treatment products have gained 57% in the past year. A. O. Smith Corp (NYSE:AOS)’s shares have jumped by 325% in the past five years, which possibly explains the long-serving Director’s decision to offload some shares. The management of the manufacturer of water heaters, boilers, and water treatment products anticipates organic revenue growth of 8% for the foreseeable future, while some analysts expect the company’s bottom-line to grow at an even faster rate due to margin expansion from price increases, operating leverage, and the accretive use of free cash flow. Charles Paquelet’s Skylands Capital reported ownership of 16,000 shares in A. O. Smith Corp (NYSE:AOS) through the current round of 13F filings.

Executive at Mueller Water Products Sells Shares After Earnings Release

One member of Mueller Water Products Inc. (NYSE:MWA)’s executive team also discarded a large amount of shares on Monday. Evan L. Hart, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President since mid-July 2008, sold 150,000 shares on Monday at prices ranging from $12.87 to $13.78 per share, a sale that trimmed Mr. Hart’s ownership to 270,065 shares.

The insider sale comes shortly after Mueller Water Products Inc. (NYSE:MWA) released a seemingly disappointing earnings report for its fiscal first quarter ended December 31, as both revenue and EPS missed estimates. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to become a pure-play water infrastructure company and agreed to sell its Anvil International business to a private-equity firm for $315 million in cash. Anvil International is a North American manufacturer of pipe fittings and system components. Going back to the freshly-released earnings report, the December quarter was the company’s 18^th-consecutive quarter of year-over-year margin expansion. The shares of Mueller Water Products have gained 59% in the past 12 months. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, was the equity holder of 2.11 million shares of Mueller Water Products Inc. (NYSE:MWA) at the end of the third quarter.

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