Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Has $1.14 Million Stake in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec significantly reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 96.7%, holding only 17,390 shares valued at approximately $1.14 million by the end of the recent quarter.
• A. O. Smith recently announced a $0.34 quarterly dividend, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 37.88%.
• In its latest earnings report, A. O. Smith exceeded expectations with $1.07 earnings per share, beating the consensus of $0.97 and reporting a revenue decline of 1.3% year-over-year.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lowered its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 96.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,390 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 517,280 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group grew its position in 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 valued at $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 69.9% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.62. The company had a trading volume of 653,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,514,150. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.31. 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 firm has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. The company'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. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.