Aberdeen Group plc Sells 1,539 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Aberdeen Group plc cut its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,539 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $476,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $339,124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 998.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,521 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 35.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $109,187,000 after acquiring an additional 438,291 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 62.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,088,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,118,000 after acquiring an additional 417,667 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at $26,211,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $69.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.30. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $80.26.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The company’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.88%.

A. O. Smith 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.