Milwaukee-based A.O. Smith Corp. will join the S&P 500 Index prior to the opening of trading on July 26.
“Inclusion in the S&P 500 Index is a significant milestone in our rich 143 year history,” said Ajita Rajendra, A.O. Smith chairman and chief executive officer. “We are honored to join this prestigious group of U.S. companies.”
A.O Smith has steadily grown its revenue and earnings in recent years with net sales increasing from $1.94 billion in 2012 to $2.67 billion last year. Net income has increased from $158.7 million to $326.5 million and diluted earnings per share increased from 85 cents per share to $1.85 per share during that period. The company also increased its cash dividend from 18 cents per share in 2012 to 48 cents last year.
The company’s stock traded below $11 per share at the start of 2012 and has nearly reached $58 within the last year.
A.O. Smith is currently part of the S&P MidCap 400 and will be switching places with Bed Bath & Beyond in the larger index.
S&P Dow Jones Indices is making several other changes ahead of July 26. ResMed Inc., Packaging Corporation of America and Duke Realty Corp. are being added to the S&P 500 in place of Mallinckrodt plc, Murphy Oil Corp., and Transocean Ltd., which will all be dropped to the S&P MidCap 400.
The new S&P 500 companies have total market capitalizations above $10 billion, making them representative of the large-cap space while the new S&P MidCap 400 companies have total market capitalizations below $4.5 billion .
