Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys Shares of 224,517 A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 224,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,082,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $97,101,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth approximately $80,885,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 220.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,022,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,371,000 after purchasing an additional 703,186 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 683,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,563,000 after purchasing an additional 617,179 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AOS shares. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price objective on A. O. Smith and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.75.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

A. O. Smith stock opened at $62.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.85. The company has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.17. A. O. Smith Corporation has a 12-month low of $54.16 and a 12-month high of $81.86.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business 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 2.3%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

A. O. Smith Company 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.