Patten & Patten Inc. TN Has $8.95 Million Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 26.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,434 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 49,122 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $8,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 9.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,670,000 after buying an additional 15,769 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 41.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 75.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,277,000 after buying an additional 173,366 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 18.3% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE AOS opened at $69.24 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.43. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.83 and a 52 week high of $81.92. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $997.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 40.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,172,105.22. The trade was a 18.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.43.

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.