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

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 14th, 2023

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,180,000 shares, a drop of 19.3% from the July 15th total of 3,940,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 979,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AOS opened at $71.36 on Monday. A. O. Smith has a 52 week low of $46.58 and a 52 week high of $76.94. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.86. The stock has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.43, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.29.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $960.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.17 million. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 29.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.30%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In related news, Director Idelle K. Wolf sold 1,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total transaction of $83,103.34. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,654,654.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,804,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,740,000 after acquiring an additional 225,462 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position 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 buying an additional 8,139,027 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,066,526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,768,000 after purchasing an additional 65,166 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,955,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,218,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $184,203,000 after buying an additional 515,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AOS shares. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, August 7th. TheStreet raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $87.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.29.

View Our Latest Stock Report on AOS

A. O. Smith Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.