Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 3,949 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. sold 3,949 shares of A. O. Smith Corporation, reducing its stake by 1.9% in Q2. Analysts have mixed ratings, with a consensus 'Hold' and target price of $76.71. A. O. Smith's stock opened at $65.39, with a 12-month range of $58.83-$77.31. The company reported Q3 EPS of $0.94, beating estimates, and increased its dividend to $0.36 per share.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. reduced its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,428 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,949 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. owned 0.14% of A. O. Smith worth $13,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $281,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter worth $1,562,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 22.4% in the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 13,899 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in A. O. Smith by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,040 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 72,417 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,748,000 after purchasing an additional 8,487 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AOS. Wall Street Zen raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price objective on A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.71.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on AOS

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $65.39 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $77.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50 day moving average is $68.59 and its 200 day moving average is $68.87.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its 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. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $942.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. On average, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is currently 38.81%.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

(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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