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

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,940,000 shares, a decrease of 10.9% from the October 31st total of 3,300,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 398.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the first quarter worth about $1,495,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 222.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,259,000 after acquiring an additional 17,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 1st quarter valued at about $675,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.63 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $74.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,134,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,996. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $70.73 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson lowered A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

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.