A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Sold by Select Equity Group L.P.

Key Points

• Select Equity Group L.P. significantly reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 75.8%, holding $52.91 million in shares after selling over 2.5 million shares during the first quarter.
• Other institutional investors, including Impax Asset Management and American Century Companies, ramped up their investments in A. O. Smith, with increases of 67.3% and 998.6% respectively.
• A. O. Smith reported earnings of $1.07 per share for its latest quarter, surpassing expectations, but noted a 1.3% year-over-year revenue decline.

Select Equity Group L.P. reduced its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 75.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 809,461 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,533,357 shares during the quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. owned about 0.57% of A. O. Smith worth $52,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Activity

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 $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. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AOS. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, August 30th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded up $1.85 during trading on Thursday, hitting $74.34. 1,274,350 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,507,629. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.56.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released 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. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $997.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio 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.