A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Bought by OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 32.1%, owning 29,731 shares worth approximately $1.94 million after purchasing an additional 7,221 shares.
• Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares at an average price of $71.26, resulting in an 18.07% decrease in his ownership, leaving him with shares valued at around $7.17 million.
• Equities analysts have increased their price targets for A. O. Smith, with the average target now at $77.43, and the stock has received a consensus rating of "Hold."

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 32.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,221 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at $409,000. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the first quarter valued at $445,000. Cadence Bank boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 12.0% in the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 12,284 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 68.0% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,138 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.0% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,031,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,442,000 after acquiring an additional 102,050 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS traded up $1.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $72.30. 567,143 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,512,453. The company has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.37 and a 200 day moving average of $67.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.88%.

About A. O. Smith

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.