Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 15,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,045,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,404,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $941,462,000 after acquiring an additional 286,316 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $339,124,000 after buying an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,011,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,551,000 after buying an additional 307,201 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,872,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,240,000 after purchasing an additional 160,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,187,000 after purchasing an additional 438,291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on AOS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price target on A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.0%

AOS stock opened at $66.02 on Friday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $77.92. The firm has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business had revenue of $942.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 38.81%.

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.