A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Stake Boosted by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,179,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,320 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $78,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 665,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 139,117 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,082,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,912,000 after purchasing an additional 36,122 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $69.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE AOS opened at $56.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.22 and a 200-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. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.16 and a 52-week high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.09). The company 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%.A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis 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 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.