A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Short Interest Update

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, an increase of 15.0% from the October 15th total of 2,870,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 980,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock opened at $72.23 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.23. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $72.15 and a one year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is 35.79%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.