Distillate Capital Partners LLC Sells 11,308 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Distillate Capital Partners LLC decreased its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 5.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,308 shares during the period. Distillate Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.14% of A. O. Smith worth $12,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter worth $91,939,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 998.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,348,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,121,000 after buying an additional 1,225,521 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $109,187,000 after acquiring an additional 438,291 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 62.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,088,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,118,000 after acquiring an additional 417,667 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AOS. Citigroup lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $66.09 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.77. The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.30. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $77.31.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $942.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.33 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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 2.2%. 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%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.