A. O. Smith Rewards Shareholders With 6% Dividend Increase

In a shareholder-friendly move, A. O. Smith Corporation AOS recently announced a hike in its dividend payout. The company increased its quarterly dividend by 6% to 36 cents per share (annually: $1.44). The new dividend will be paid out on Nov. 17, 2025, to shareholders of record as of Oct. 31.

The move underscores AOS’ sound financial health as it utilizes free cash flow to enhance its shareholders’ returns. The five-year compound annual growth rate of its dividend is about 7%. The company has increased its dividend consecutively for more than 30 years. Before this, it had hiked its dividend by 6% to 34 cents per share in October 2024.

Sound Capital-Allocation Strategies

Strong cash flows allow AOS to effectively deploy capital for rewarding its shareholders handsomely through dividend payments and share buybacks. In the first six months of 2025, the company paid dividends of $97.5 million, up 3.5% year over year. In the same period, it repurchased 3.8 million shares for approximately $251.3 million. While exiting the second quarter of 2025, A. O. Smith had 3 million shares remaining under its existing repurchase authorization. It is worth noting that, in January 2025, the company’s board boosted the buyback program by 5 million shares. For 2025, AOS expects to repurchase shares worth approximately $400 million.

Over the past year, the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company has gained 0.6% against the industry’s 1.1% decline. A. O. Smith remains focused on acquiring businesses to gain access to new customers, regions and product lines. The company’s acquisition of Pureit will enable it to strengthen its position in the water treatment industry in India. Also, AOS’ focus on cost management and operational excellence is supporting its margin performance.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked companies are discussed below.

Crane Company CR currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

CR delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 7.5%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Crane’s 2025 earnings has increased 0.9%.

Flowserve Corporation FLS presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. FLS delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 5.5%.

In the past 60 days, the consensus estimate for Flowserve’s 2025 earnings has increased 0.9%.

Parker-Hannifin Corporation PH presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. PH delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 4.5%.

In the past 60 days, the consensus estimate for Parker-Hannifin’s fiscal 2026 earnings has increased 0.2%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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