Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 20,384 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P significantly reduced its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation by 84.4%, selling 20,384 shares and retaining only 3,754 shares valued at $245,000.
• Several other institutional investors increased their positions, with the National Pension Service growing its stake by 74.8% and Caitong International Asset Management boosting its position by 161.7% during the same quarter.
• A. O. Smith recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%, alongside positive earnings results that surpassed analyst expectations.

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 84.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,754 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 20,384 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,232,276 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,053,000 after acquiring an additional 31,937 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 127.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,732 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 3,766 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,716 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at about $564,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of 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 restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $71.41. 886,395 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 992,705. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. 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 $70.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

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. 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%.

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.