Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Lowers Stock Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC cut its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 78.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,954 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 64.4% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 11,294 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth approximately $9,411,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth approximately $1,045,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the second quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 37,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1,118.7% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 38,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,530,000 after acquiring an additional 35,417 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $66.82 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.90. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.83 and a 1-year high of $77.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.30.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%.The company had revenue of $942.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 37.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

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.