Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 31,393 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31,393 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of A. O. Smith worth $8,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 67.3% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,188,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $339,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086,433 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at approximately $74,180,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 242.8% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 627,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,787,000 after purchasing an additional 444,307 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at approximately $24,534,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4,238.7% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 383,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,046,000 after purchasing an additional 374,363 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.9%

AOS opened at $72.7890 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 28.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.900 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.