Short Interest in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Rises By 6.7%

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the December 15th total of 3,890,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

AOS stock traded up $0.47 on Friday, reaching $71.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,285,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,383. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.23 and its 200 day moving average is $78.26. The company has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.18. 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 $67.17 and a 1 year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% in 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 during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.