Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the first quarter worth $26,000. National Pension Service increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 74.8% during the 1st 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 increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 69.9% during the 1st 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 increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 161.7% during the 1st 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 bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AOS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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 note on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS stock opened at $72.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.52. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company 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.