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

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. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the 4th quarter valued at $1,631,000. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 191.2% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 46,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after acquiring an additional 30,670 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in A. O. Smith by 124.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,712 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 4,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $66.96. The company had a trading volume of 762,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,474,294. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $65.53 and a one year high of $92.44.

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

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer cut 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 research note on Friday. 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.86.

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.