Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Buys Shares of 350,127 A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 350,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,416,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3,125.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares in the company, valued at $163,732.39. This trade represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $65.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $69.89.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of AOS opened at $56.01 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.28. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.98 and a 12-month high of $81.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.09). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The company had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 38.30%.

A. O. Smith Company 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.