A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Sold by Thematics Asset Management

Key Points

• Thematics Asset Management has reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 19.2% to 147,000 shares, following the sale of 35,000 shares during the first quarter.
• A. O. Smith's earnings report beat analyst expectations with $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, slightly lower than the previous year's EPS of $1.06, and the company is forecasting FY 2025 EPS guidance of 3.700-3.900.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 37.88%.

Thematics Asset Management reduced its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 35,000 shares during the quarter. Thematics Asset Management owned 0.10% of A. O. Smith worth $9,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,232,276 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $84,053,000 after buying an additional 31,937 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,149,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 127.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,732 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 3,766 shares in the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 29,518 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,009,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 47.2% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,716 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE AOS traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $71.68. 1,081,365 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,524,619. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.06.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The business's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 37.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target 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. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

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.