Norges Bank Makes New Investment in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,451,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,101,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 665,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,876,000 after buying an additional 139,117 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,082,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,912,000 after buying an additional 36,122 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,508,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $184,182,000 after purchasing an additional 109,654 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 273,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,057,000 after purchasing an additional 45,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,393,000 after purchasing an additional 38,694 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AOS. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $69.89.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $57.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.33. The company has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.18. 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 fifty-two week low of $54.16 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given 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 38.30%.

About A. O. Smith

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.