Short Interest in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Declines By 7.6%

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) saw a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,270,000 shares, a drop of 7.6% from the June 30th total of 3,540,000 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 928,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.67.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Director Ronald D. Brown 3,631 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,258,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,212,000 after purchasing an additional 22,859 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 623,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,390,000 after purchasing an additional 168,911 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,047,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 79,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,519,000 after buying an additional 22,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

Shares of AOS traded down $2.90 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $82.14. 557,865 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 960,864. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.56 and its 200 day moving average is $83.94. The stock has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.70. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $64.14 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 33.16%.

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.