Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 97,803 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 91.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 97,803 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Faithward Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 6,140 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Stonehearth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter worth $212,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 48,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 14,942 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 174,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,684,000 after buying an additional 10,391 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $65.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $69.33.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $62.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.56. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.16 and a 52-week high of $81.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.32 and a 200-day moving average of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.16.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.09). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.84%.The business had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 38.30%.

A. O. Smith Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.