4,382 Shares in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co acquired a newly reported stake of 4,382 shares in A. O. Smith Corporation, valued at approximately $286,000, during the first quarter, according to their recent 13F filing.
• A. O. Smith's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $1.07, exceeding analysts' estimates, despite a 1.3% decrease in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34, yielding 1.9%, and has set its FY 2025 guidance for EPS between 3.700 and 3.900.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,382 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 67.3% in the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $339,124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086,433 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 998.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,521 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter worth approximately $74,180,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 242.8% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,787,000 after acquiring an additional 444,307 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,567 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $109,187,000 after acquiring an additional 438,291 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 2.3%

A. O. Smith stock traded down $1.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.60. 766,673 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,029,460. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.06. 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 $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company's 50-day moving average is $71.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.66.

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. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The firm's 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, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith 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.