Citigroup Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 29.5% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 36,202 shares, bringing its total holdings to 158,901 shares worth approximately $10.39 million.
• A. O. Smith reported $1.07 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $0.97, despite a 1.3% year-on-year decline in revenue, totaling $1.01 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 37.88%.

Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 29.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,202 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of A. O. Smith worth $10,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 9.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,670,000 after acquiring an additional 15,769 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in 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 worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $26,277,000 after acquiring an additional 173,366 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in 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 worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.8%

AOS stock traded down $0.6160 on Wednesday, hitting $72.2040. 321,253 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,545,184. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business's fifty day moving average is $68.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith's revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Company 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.