Madison Asset Management LLC Has $75.34 Million Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Madison Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,142,604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 66,801 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC owned 0.83% of A. O. Smith worth $75,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter worth about $97,101,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 220.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,022,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,371,000 after purchasing an additional 703,186 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,009,622,000 after purchasing an additional 683,176 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,563,000 after purchasing an additional 617,179 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 655.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 710,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,602,000 after buying an additional 616,638 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $76.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $69.44.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $58.91 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1 year low of $54.16 and a 1 year high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.09). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The firm had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 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.