Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Invests $26.21 Million in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. has purchased a new position in A. O. Smith Corporation, acquiring 401,018 shares valued at approximately $26.2 million, representing 0.28% of the company's stock.
• A. O. Smith recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.07, beating analyst estimates and setting its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, with a current annualized dividend yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 37.88%.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 401,018 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $26,211,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 0.28% of A. O. Smith as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.1% during the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 15,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,020,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised 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 buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 69.9% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AOS. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE AOS traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.19. 130,661 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,503,974. The company has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.52. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.