Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 184,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,390 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $12,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,009,622,000 after buying an additional 683,176 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,850,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,050,000 after buying an additional 157,856 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $235,560,000 after buying an additional 1,128,543 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,508,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,182,000 after buying an additional 109,654 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,344,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $156,809,000 after buying an additional 60,260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $69.89.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:AOS opened at $57.37 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.32. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.16 and a 12 month high of $81.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.09). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.84%.The company had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. Equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

A. O. Smith Company 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.