Berger Financial Group Inc Invests $5.40 Million in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Berger Financial Group Inc purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 81,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,402,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.9% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 107,762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,106,000 after buying an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter worth $244,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3,618.1% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 117,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,740,000 after acquiring an additional 114,223 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $69.33.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $62.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.48. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.16 and a 52-week high of $81.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.16.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted 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 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 the consensus estimate of $974.06 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. Analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.