A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation by 28.7%, now owning 11,990 shares valued at $784,000.
• Insider selling was observed as Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares for a total of $1,581,972, decreasing his stake by 18.07%.
• A. O. Smith Corporation's shares received mixed ratings from analysts with a price target ranging from $70.00 to $88.00, reflecting varied confidence in the stock's performance.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 28.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,990 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,820 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at $26,000. National Pension Service increased its position in A. O. Smith by 74.8% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in A. O. Smith by 69.9% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 491 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 161.7% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 539 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AOS. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two investment 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.79. The company had a trading volume of 85,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,494,200. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $71.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.72. 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 $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. A. O. Smith's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.34 dividend. 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 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.