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Foster Group Inc. Invests $343,000 in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

A. O. Smith logo with Industrials background

Key Points

  • Foster Group Inc. has invested approximately $343,000 in A. O. Smith Corporation, acquiring 5,236 shares during the second quarter.
  • A. O. Smith's stock price objective has been raised by several analysts, with Oppenheimer setting it at $88.00 and Stifel Nicolaus at $81.00, reflecting positive market sentiment.
  • Insider transactions revealed that Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares for about $1.58 million, reducing his holdings by 18.07%.
  • MarketBeat previews top five stocks to own in October.

Foster Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,236 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,404,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $941,462,000 after purchasing an additional 286,316 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $339,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.5% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,011,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $327,551,000 after purchasing an additional 307,201 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,872,658 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $121,240,000 after purchasing an additional 160,522 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 35.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,567 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $109,187,000 after purchasing an additional 438,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued 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.

Get Our Latest Research Report on A. O. Smith

Insider Buying and Selling

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of AOS opened at $72.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.25. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $92.06. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $71.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.92. 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 (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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is presently 37.88%.

About A. O. Smith

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AOS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS)

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