Woodline Partners LP Acquires 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 purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,670,000 after acquiring an additional 15,769 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 41.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,089 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 75.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,039 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,277,000 after buying an additional 173,366 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 18.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.4%

A. O. Smith stock traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.61. 144,807 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,489,647. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $92.06. The firm has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.76.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. The company 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 company's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

A. O. Smith Company 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.