A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Short Interest Down 17.5% in February

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) saw a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,213,011 shares, a decline of 17.5% from the January 29th total of 7,526,575 shares. Currently, 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,521,884 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,521,884 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AOS. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of A. O. Smith and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $77.00 target price on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.00.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:AOS traded down $0.92 on Thursday, hitting $72.43. 210,635 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,371,516. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.33. A. O. Smith has a 12 month low of $58.83 and a 12 month high of $81.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.83.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $912.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.97 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 29.51%. The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Darrell W. Schuh sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $82,126.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,732.39. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $97,101,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,885,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 54.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,208,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $235,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,543 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 220.4% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,022,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,371,000 after purchasing an additional 703,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,096,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,009,622,000 after purchasing an additional 683,176 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential and commercial applications. Since its founding in 1874, the company has built a reputation for producing reliable, energy-efficient water heaters, boilers and pressure vessels. Its product portfolio encompasses gas, electric, condensing and tankless water heaters, as well as specialty boilers designed to meet a variety of building and industrial needs.

The company operates through two primary segments: North America and Asia.