Short Interest in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Rises By 15.7%

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of 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 trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AOS stock traded down $0.62 on Tuesday, reaching $76.38. 877,306 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 962,688. The stock has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.15. A. O. Smith has a one year low of $67.96 and a one year high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.19.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

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 transaction of $1,191,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,319. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $315,055,000 after acquiring an additional 400,304 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $167,387,000 after purchasing an additional 72,856 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $113,962,000 after purchasing an additional 66,933 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $87,988,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

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.