Bessemer Group Inc. Trims Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 51.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,077 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,045,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,670,000 after buying an additional 15,769 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 75.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,277,000 after buying an additional 173,366 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 18.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS opened at $65.63 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $77.92. The company has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.30.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $942.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.33 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.81%.

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.