Patten & Patten Inc. TN Sells 49,122 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Patten & Patten Inc. has reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 26.5%, selling 49,122 shares and retaining approximately 136,434 shares valued at $8.9 million.
• A. O. Smith announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.36 per share, which reflects a positive change from the previous $0.34 and represents a 2.1% yield.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for A. O. Smith, with Oppenheimer setting a new target of $88.00, reflecting a positive outlook despite mixed performance in revenue year-over-year.

Patten & Patten Inc. TN decreased its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 26.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 49,122 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN owned approximately 0.10% of A. O. Smith worth $8,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 74.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $69.24 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $71.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.43. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $81.92. The stock has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 40.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.

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