Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 7,736 Shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. cut its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,027 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,736 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Colonial River Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 9.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 25,991 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 8.7% in the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 34,722 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,776 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AOS shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of A. O. Smith from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AOS traded down $0.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,214,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,721. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12 month low of $72.15 and a 12 month high of $92.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.24.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued 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 was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from A. O. Smith's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.79%.

A. O. Smith 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.