Vident Advisory LLC Sells 15,751 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC reduced its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation by 38.0%, selling 15,751 shares and retaining 25,686 shares worth approximately $1.68 million.
• A. O. Smith reported $1.07 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $0.97, and experienced a 1.3% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34, translating to a 1.9% yield with a payout ratio of 37.88%.

Vident Advisory LLC cut its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 38.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,686 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 15,751 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,670,000 after purchasing an additional 15,769 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 41.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,089 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 75.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,039 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,277,000 after acquiring an additional 173,366 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 18.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS traded up $0.98 on Friday, hitting $73.62. 1,445,124 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 978,142. The business's fifty day moving average is $70.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.43. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith's 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, equities analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AOS. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. 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 report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.