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 in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the December 31st total of 3,890,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 5.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Saturday. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AOS stock opened at $67.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $65.53 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS 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 analysts expect that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

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.