A. O. Smith management check
AOS · Industrials · Building Products · CEO Mr. Shafer
Filings as of
3 good · 2 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $133, against $190 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.87 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Watch
What does the CEO cost owners?
1.6% of net income$8.5m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $546.0m of net income.
- n/a
Do they own the stock?
No recent CEO filingNo open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -3.1% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.4% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Mr. Shafer, Mr. Wheeler. 7 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Industrials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 12 | 55 | |
| Pay for performance | 94 | 86 | |
| CEO cost | 34 | 48 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 55 |
| Dilution | 88 | 62 | |
| Stable leadership | 50 | 75 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Building Products, by management score. A. O. Smith is 49th of 81 in its sector.
- 73MASMasco78
- 175TTTrane Technologies71
- 251CARRCarrier Global64
- 274AOSA. O. Smith63
- 288JCIJohnson Controls62
- 290ALLEAllegion62
- 458LIILennox International44
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 4, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Shafer, Mr. Wheeler | $8.5m | $8.3m | $2.5m | $133 | $190 | $546.0m |
| 2024 | — | $7.7m | $6.4m | $2.7m | $157 | $176 | $534.0m |
| 2023 | — | $8.3m | $12.8m | $2.5m | $186 | $150 | $557.0m |
| 2022 | — | $6.6m | $181k | $1.7m | $127 | $127 | $236.0m |
| 2021 | — | $6.9m | $14.7m | $2.1m | $187 | $135 | $487.0m |
The board says pay is tied most to Earnings before Interest and Taxes. Its other key measures: Earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT), Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), Net Sales, Return on Equity.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
No open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
Leadership and governance on file
- Jun 22, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 19, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 28, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 25, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 9, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 18, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 5, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 3, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 2, 2021Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Apr 17, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $2.7bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 114% of net income, and $63.2m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.5bn | $3.8bn | $3.9bn | $3.8bn | $3.8bn |
| Net income | $487.1m | $235.7m | $556.6m | $533.6m | $546.2m |
| Stock-based pay | $11.9m | $11.1m | $11.5m | $14.9m | $13.8m |
| Buybacks | $366.5m | $403.5m | $306.5m | $305.8m | $400.8m |
| Dividends | $170.1m | $177.2m | $183.5m | $190.4m | $195.7m |
| Diluted shares | 161m | 156m | 151m | 147m | 142m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.