A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation by 1.6% in Q2. Analysts have set new price targets, with a mix of 'buy' and 'hold' ratings. A. O. Smith's stock opened at $67.16, with a market cap of $9.35 billion. The company reported Q3 earnings of $0.94 per share, exceeding estimates. A. O. Smith increased its quarterly dividend to $0.36.

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,399,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 38,788 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 1.71% of A. O. Smith worth $157,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth about $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 143.7% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 44,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 445 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price objective on A. O. Smith in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.71.

View Our Latest Analysis on AOS

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock opened at $67.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.54. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $77.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.72.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $942.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.33 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.85%.A. O. Smith's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 38.81%.

About A. O. Smith

(Free Report)

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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