A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

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American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 998.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,225,521 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.95% of A. O. Smith worth $88,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 15,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 69.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE AOS traded up $1.79 on Friday, hitting $73.54. The company had a trading volume of 674,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,211,578. The company has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.22. The company's fifty day moving average price is $69.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03. 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 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 company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The firm'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, analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. 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 note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,172,105.22. This represents 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 owned by insiders.

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.