abrdn plc Acquires 1,530 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 393.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 7,033 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 55,605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 22,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TriaGen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $784,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $83.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $85.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.98. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.88 and a fifty-two week high of $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.65.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $978.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.91 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.94% and a net margin of 14.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 33.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,072.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 60,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.51, for a total value of $5,092,403.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,929.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 24,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $2,048,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 56,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,072.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,631 shares of company stock valued at $8,042,535 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

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.