A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Purchased by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 22.6% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 20,426 shares worth approximately $7.2 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for A. O. Smith, with Stifel Nicolaus and Oppenheimer setting new targets of $81.00 and $88.00 respectively, while the stock currently has an average consensus price target of $77.43.
• A. O. Smith's latest quarterly earnings report showed $1.07 earnings per share, exceeding analyst estimates and indicating a 13.68% net margin despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 1.3%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 22.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,647 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,426 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.08% of A. O. Smith worth $7,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $339,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter valued at $74,180,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 242.8% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,787,000 after buying an additional 444,307 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,567 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $109,187,000 after buying an additional 438,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the 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 directly owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AOS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS traded up $1.9850 during trading on Friday, hitting $73.7350. The company had a trading volume of 213,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,535,008. 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 fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.95.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The company 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%.A. O. Smith's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.88%.

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.