Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $880,000 Stake in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 299.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 10,005 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 939,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,393,000 after acquiring an additional 154,201 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 78.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 963 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth $5,212,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 211,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,847,000 after purchasing an additional 21,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 165.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 32,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,156,000 after purchasing an additional 20,485 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings cut A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $67.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $69.33.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.3%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $60.48 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.87 and a 200-day moving average of $65.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.16 and a twelve month high of $81.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.16.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.06 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.84%.The company’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 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.