A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the December 31st total of 3,890,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AOS traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $67.70. The stock had a trading volume of 525,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,463,460. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.04. A. O. Smith has a 12 month low of $65.53 and a 12 month high of $92.44. The company has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Equities research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AOS shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. DA Davidson cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,766,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,467,000 after purchasing an additional 471,990 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 92.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,397,000 after purchasing an additional 365,710 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after purchasing an additional 299,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,060,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

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.