Madison Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,209,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,885,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,009,622,000 after purchasing an additional 683,176 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.4% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,850,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,050,000 after purchasing an additional 157,856 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 54.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $235,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,543 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,508,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,182,000 after purchasing an additional 109,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in A. O. Smith by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,082,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,912,000 after purchasing an additional 36,122 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.44.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $58.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.53. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $57.49 and a 52 week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.06 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,732.39. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.