MBB Public Markets I LLC Buys New Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC has invested $298,000 in A. O. Smith Corporation ($AOS), acquiring 4,552 shares of the company's stock in the 1st quarter.
• A. O. Smith's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.07, beating estimates, and the company declared a $0.34 quarterly dividend with a yield of 1.8%.
• Recent analyst ratings have varied, with Oppenheimer raising their target price for A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00, while a majority have given the stock a "Hold" rating.

MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,552 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,404,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $941,462,000 after purchasing an additional 286,316 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,011,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $327,551,000 after purchasing an additional 307,201 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,444,338 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $166,728,000 after purchasing an additional 236,880 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,872,658 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $121,240,000 after purchasing an additional 160,522 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at A. O. Smith

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith 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 sale, the chairman 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 1.0%

AOS stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Monday, reaching $73.32. 799,622 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,502,364. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.67. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $92.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith's quarterly revenue 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. On average, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AOS shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.43.

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.