KBC Group NV Sells 152,196 Shares of A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

KBC Group NV lessened its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 25.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 457,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 152,196 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $30,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Grey Ledge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Grey Ledge Advisors LLC now owns 8,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Eukles Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 29,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,956,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 5,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $61.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $76.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $75.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $69.44.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $58.74 on Wednesday. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $54.16 and a 12-month high of $81.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.09). A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.84%.The company had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio 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.