A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Short Interest Up 15.7% in October

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a growth of 15.7% from the September 30th total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Samuel M. Carver sold 14,705 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on 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. StockNews.com downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $75.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.14. The company has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a 12-month low of $69.17 and a 12-month 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued 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 is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

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.