Versor Investments LP Takes $672,000 Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,253 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 143.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 161.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price target on A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $65.63 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.99. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $77.92. The company has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.30. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm had revenue of $942.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.81%.

A. O. Smith 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.