Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Trims Holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 28.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,820 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the first quarter valued at about $3,101,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,742,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 26,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 1st quarter valued at $990,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of A. O. Smith 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 transaction, the chairman owned 100,647 shares in the company, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on A. O. Smith in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS opened at $72.46 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.56. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.83 and a 12-month high of $92.06.

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

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

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

A. O. Smith 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.