A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Stock Holdings Lifted by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 14.2%, owning 64,168 shares valued at approximately $4.2 million after purchasing an additional 7,996 shares during the first quarter.
• During the same period, other institutional investors like Envestnet Asset Management Inc. and Principal Financial Group Inc. also significantly increased their holdings, reflecting strong interest in the stock.
• A. O. Smith's most recent earnings report showed EPS of $1.07, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.10, although the company's revenue declined by 1.3% year-over-year.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,168 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,996 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $4,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter worth about $74,180,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 242.8% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,787,000 after purchasing an additional 444,307 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,618,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $178,587,000 after buying an additional 417,595 shares during the period. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth about $24,534,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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 reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS traded down $0.8320 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $71.9880. 365,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,545,484. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.89. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

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

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.