State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 2,200 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its holdings in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,045,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,670,000 after purchasing an additional 15,769 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 75.8% during 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. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 18.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AOS. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $76.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $65.64 on Friday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.83 and a 1 year high of $77.31. The firm has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.57 and a 200 day moving average of $68.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business had revenue of $942.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 38.81%.

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.