Atwater Malick LLC Sells 32,551 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Atwater Malick LLC cut its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 83,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,551 shares during the period. A. O. Smith comprises 1.8% of Atwater Malick LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $6,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 2nd quarter worth $1,045,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $386,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.1% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,265,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,952,000 after buying an additional 13,906 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,837,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 13.3% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 72,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $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 Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $67.16 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.20. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $77.31. The firm has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $942.50 million during 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 quarter 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 forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 38.81%.

A. O. Smith Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.