Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Grows Stake in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 33.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 811,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 202,484 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.58% of A. O. Smith worth $53,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $1,045,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $386,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,837,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,265,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,952,000 after purchasing an additional 13,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 64.4% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after buying an additional 11,294 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AOS stock opened at $67.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.95 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 $77.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $67.76 and its 200 day moving average is $68.72.

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

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AOS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.71.

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.