A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Short Interest Update

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,020,000 shares, a decrease of 5.3% from the August 15th total of 3,190,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 874,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS opened at $67.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.60. A. O. Smith has a fifty-two week low of $46.58 and a fifty-two week high of $76.94.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $960.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.17 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 29.73% and a net margin of 7.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that A. O. Smith will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is currently 66.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AOS shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Wheeler sold 12,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $892,435.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 71,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,937,378.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Kevin J. Wheeler sold 12,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.09, for a total value of $892,435.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 71,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,937,378.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 1,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total value of $83,103.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,654,654.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of A. O. Smith

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AOS. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 98,060.6% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 8,147,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $592,962,000 after purchasing an additional 8,139,027 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 180.1% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,830,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176,626 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $58,846,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth $45,069,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 184.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,074,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,283,000 after acquiring an additional 696,773 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.48% of the company’s stock.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas, heat pump and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. It operates through two segments, North America and Rest of World. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; commercial boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as residential boilers for homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, on-the-go filtration bottles, point-of-use carbon, and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.