Earnest Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC reduced its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation by 0.7%, selling 15,060 shares, and now owns 2,043,671 shares worth $133,574,000.
• A. O. Smith recently reported $1.07 earnings per share, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97, while quarterly revenue was down 1.3% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,043,671 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 15,060 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned 1.44% of A. O. Smith worth $133,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 69.9% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 161.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 539 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.3%

AOS stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $71.41. 886,395 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 992,705. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.01 and a 200-day moving average of $67.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was 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 approximately $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Wall Street Zen raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two equities 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

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.