California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Stock Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its A. O. Smith stake by 27.2% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 136,319 shares valued at approximately $8.99 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.1% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: A. O. Smith has an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of $67.75, with several firms recently lowering targets or downgrading the stock.
• A. O. Smith reported quarterly EPS of $1.03, beating estimates of $0.96, while revenue fell 0.7% year over year to about $1 billion. The company also declared a $0.36 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.3% yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 27.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,319 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,112 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of A. O. Smith worth $8,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AOS. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3,481.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 394 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $67.75.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of AOS stock opened at $63.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.16 and a twelve month high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.15% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. Research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.

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