451,033 Shares in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Purchased by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 451,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,166,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $80,885,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 54.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $235,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,543 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,009,622,000 after purchasing an additional 683,176 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 655.5% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 710,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,602,000 after purchasing an additional 616,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,649,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,351,000 after buying an additional 537,920 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AOS. Weiss Ratings cut A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $69.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,732.39. This trade represents a 33.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $56.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.00. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 1-year low of $54.16 and a 1-year high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $945.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.06 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 28.42%. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.30%.

A. O. Smith Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.