Wedmont Private Capital Grows Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at $26,000. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 69.9% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 161.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $73.06 on Monday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.90. The company has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. Research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.88%.

About A. O. Smith

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.