Norges Bank Makes New $91.94 Million Investment in A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,402,144 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,939,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.00% of A. O. Smith as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 44,400.0% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 143.7% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 74.8% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP grew its stake in A. O. Smith by 988.9% in the 2nd quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 target price on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen raised 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 A. O. Smith in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.71.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.2%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $67.16 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $77.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.34.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $942.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.33 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.85%.A. O. Smith’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 38.81%.

About A. O. Smith

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.