Woodline Partners LP Buys Shares of 130,275 A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP has acquired 130,275 shares of A. O. Smith Corporation, representing a stake valued at approximately $8.5 million, increasing its ownership to 0.09%.
• Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares for around $1.58 million, reducing his ownership by 18.07% and leaving him with 100,647 shares.
• A. O. Smith has reported a Q2 EPS of $1.07, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, yielding 1.8% annually.

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 130,275 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $8,515,000. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.09% of A. O. Smith at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,863,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 107.7% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 2,907 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 150.2% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 55,617 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,794,000 after buying an additional 33,387 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 139.8% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 60,963 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,158,000 after buying an additional 35,538 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 133.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 547,410 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $37,339,000 after buying an additional 312,492 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $74.38 on Friday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $92.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.61. 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 stock has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business 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 business earned $1.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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. On average, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is presently 37.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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 restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.43.

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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