A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Position Reduced by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 30%, now holding 296,059 shares valued at approximately $19.2 million.
• A. O. Smith's stock rose by 2.6%, reaching $74.38, following its earnings report that surpassed analysts' expectations with $1.07 earnings per share.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 1.8%, with a payout ratio of 37.88%.

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 30.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 296,059 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 127,078 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.21% of A. O. Smith worth $19,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 15,769 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 173,366 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of AOS stock traded up $1.89 on Thursday, hitting $74.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,673,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,510,679. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50 day moving average is $71.03 and its 200-day moving average is $67.56. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group restated 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

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.