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A.O. Smith Corp, known by the ticker symbol AOS, is a mid-cap specialty industrial machinery company, operating in the industrials business sector in Wisconsin. This is my First report on A.O. Smith Corp for this Viital portfolio, I have reported about this company in one of my previous six portfolios.

A.O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets comprehensive lines of residential and commercial gas, gas tankless, and electric water heaters. Supplementary products include water heating equipment, condensing and noncondensing boilers, and water system tanks.

The company's two operating segments are by geographic region: North America (majority of total revenue) and the Rest of the World. A material portion of sales in North America derive from replacing existing products, and the company utilizes a wholesale distribution channel and multiple selling locations.

The Rest of the World segment sells primarily to Asian countries and operates sales offices to expand distribution and market its product portfolio.

It distributes its products through independent wholesale plumbing distributors, as well as through retail channels consisting of hardware and home center chains, and manufacturer representative firms; and offers Aquasana branded products directly to consumers through e-commerce, as well as other online retailers.

A. O. Smith Corporation was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Three key data points gauge any dividend equity or fund such as A.O.Smith Corp (AOC)

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Those three basic keys best tell whether any company has made, is making, and will make money.

AOC Price

Smith’s price per share was $59.05 as of yesterday's market close. One year ago its price was $70.29. Therefore, Smith’s share price fell $11.24 or about 16% in the past year.

If Smith’s stock trades in the range of $55.00 to $75.00 this next year, its recent $59.05 share price might rise by $10.05 to reach $70.00 by May 4, 2023. My $10.05 upside estimate is $4.22 less than the median of price upside gauged by nine analysts tracking AOS for their brokerages.

AOS Dividends

Smith’s most recently declared quarterly dividend of $0.28 is payable May 16th to shareholders on record as of April 28th.

A.O. Smith Corp started its quarterly dividend February 5,1985. The dividend has increased steadily from $0.01 to $0.28 first paid November 15 2021. At its recent annual rate, AOS’s annual payout of $1.12 is estimated to deliver a 1.90% annual yield per yesterday’s $59.05 share price.

AOS Returns

Adding the $1.12 AOS annual dividend to the estimated one-year price upside of $10.95 shows a $12.07 potential gross gain, per share, to be reduced by any costs to trade AOS shares.

At yesterday's $59.05 closing price per share, a little over $1000 would buy 17 shares.

A $10 broker fee (if charged) would be paid half at purchase and half at sale and might cost us about $0.59 per share.

Subtract that maybe $0.59 brokerage cost from my estimated $12.07 gross gain estimate per share results in a net gain of $11.48 X 17 shares = $195.16 for a 19.4% net gain on a $1,003.85 investment.

So it is that A.O. Smith Corp (AOS) shows a possible 19.5% net gain including a 1.90% forward looking dividend yield.

Over the next year at this time our $1000 investment in AOS shares could generate $19.00 in cash dividends alone. Note that a single share of AOS stock bought at yesterday's $59.05 price is over 3 times greater than the anticipated dividend income from our $1000.00 invested.

So, by my dogcatcher ideal, this is no time to buy AOS shares based on their declared dividends for the year 2022. The forthcoming annual dividend from $1K invested is currently 3.11 times less than yesterday's single share price. Consider yourself alerted. It's a sign. Do not buy AOS stock for dividend until the price drops to $33.45 or its Q dividend is increased to $0.88 per share.

All of the estimates above are speculation based on the past history of A.O. Smith Corp (AOS). Only time and money invested in this stock will determine its market value.