First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,168,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 203,846 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.57% of A. O. Smith worth $143,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 37,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,473,000 after buying an additional 10,727 shares in the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter worth approximately $230,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 3.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,959,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $129,202,000 after acquiring an additional 64,873 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 24.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 33.6% in the first quarter. Regents Gate Capital LLP now owns 263,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,405,000 after acquiring an additional 66,387 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down from $65.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $69.44.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $59.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.16 and a 12 month high of $81.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.16.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The business had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.06 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue 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. As a group, analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.30%.

About A. O. Smith

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.