By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS – Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,240,000 shares, an increase 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 shares of the stock are short sold.
Analyst Ratings Changes
AOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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 raised their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.17.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AOS
A. O. Smith Price Performance
Shares of AOS traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.49. 981,477 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 884,067. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $70.73 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44.
A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. The firm had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.
A. O. Smith Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 35.79%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,630,000 after buying an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,586,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,348,000 after purchasing an additional 52,593 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,848,000 after purchasing an additional 87,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 3.7% in the second 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.
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