Fox Run Management L.L.C. Takes $1.30 Million Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. has acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith Corporation, purchasing 19,933 shares valued at approximately $1.3 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Principal Financial Group and Envestnet Asset Management, have increased their holdings in A. O. Smith, which is now 76.10% owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have set new price targets for A. O. Smith, ranging from $76 to $88, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,933 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,303,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 15,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 74.8% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 69.9% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AOS. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 190,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,361. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $92.06. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $68.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during 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 firm's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.