A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 585,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,492 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC owned about 0.42% of A. O. Smith worth $39,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 26.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 665,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 139,117 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.8% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,082,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $152,912,000 after purchasing an additional 36,122 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,508,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,182,000 after purchasing an additional 109,654 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.9% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 273,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,057,000 after purchasing an additional 45,299 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,393,000 after purchasing an additional 38,694 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AOS. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down from $65.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $69.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In other news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,732.39. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AOS opened at $56.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. A. O. Smith Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.16 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.06 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

A. O. Smith Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.