ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,344,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,260 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $156,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3,125.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $65.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $69.89.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.3%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $56.76 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.98 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86. 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 50 day moving average price of $64.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23.

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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’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. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 38.30%.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

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

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.