Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 23.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,787 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of A. O. Smith worth $10,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AOS. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,344,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $156,809,000 after acquiring an additional 60,260 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 230.1% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 36,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 25,147 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3,725.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 259,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,353,000 after purchasing an additional 252,683 shares during the period. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $980,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,179,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,899,000 after purchasing an additional 43,320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AOS. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $65.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $69.44.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 2.2%

AOS stock opened at $60.77 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.07 and a 200 day moving average of $65.65. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.16. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.16 and a twelve month high of $81.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS 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 company had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

About A. O. Smith

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.