Empowered Funds LLC Raises Position in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 68.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,612 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $2,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AOS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 683,176 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,911,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $395,361,000 after acquiring an additional 458,257 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,559,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $304,947,000 after acquiring an additional 37,621 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,909,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $194,581,000 after purchasing an additional 101,453 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,344,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $156,809,000 after purchasing an additional 60,260 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.3%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $63.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.10. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.16 and a twelve month high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 13.15%.The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $67.75.

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.