Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $109.19 Million Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 35.6%, purchasing an additional 438,291 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 1.18% valued at $109.2 million.
• A. O. Smith recently reported earnings of $1.07 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $0.97, although revenue was down 1.3% compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, which reflects an annualized dividend of $1.36 and a yield of 1.8% with a payout ratio of 37.88%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 35.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,670,567 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 438,291 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.18% of A. O. Smith worth $109,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,404,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $941,462,000 after buying an additional 286,316 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 2,086,433 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,011,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $327,551,000 after buying an additional 307,201 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $166,728,000 after buying an additional 236,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,058,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $140,426,000 after purchasing an additional 70,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE AOS traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $71.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,081,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,080,714. The company has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. A. O. Smith Corporation has a one year low of $58.83 and a one year high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.88%.

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.