A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,090,000 shares, a decrease of 13.0% from the April 30th total of 5,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 4.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,972,000 after acquiring an additional 12,305 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 124.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,712 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,015,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,371,000 after buying an additional 17,442 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.6%

A. O. Smith stock opened at $64.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. A. O. Smith has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $92.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.85. The firm has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.28.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. A. O. Smith’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.17.

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.