A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Short Interest Up 10.2% in November

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,240,000 shares, a growth of 10.2% from the November 15th total of 2,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AOS. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of A. O. Smith from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AOS. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth approximately $232,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 29.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.9% in the second quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 35,275 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,885,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 44,417 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,632,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 7.8% during the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 18,652 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,525,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.49. 981,477 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 884,067. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $76.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. A. O. Smith has a 1-year low of $70.73 and a 1-year high of $92.44.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 35.79%.

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.