IFP Advisors Inc Decreases Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

IFP Advisors Inc lowered its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 58.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,230 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 998.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,521 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 438,291 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 417,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at about $26,211,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AOS opened at $69.77 on Friday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $80.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.50. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. A. O. Smith’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.