A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Short Interest Up 15.0% in October

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE AOS traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.23. 1,214,367 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 973,721. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $72.15 and a 52-week high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.24. The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the second quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.