Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,238,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,925 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of AZZ worth $265,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in AZZ by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in AZZ by 202.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in AZZ by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in AZZ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AZZ Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE AZZ opened at $77.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.07, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.42. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.59 and a 12 month high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The firm had revenue of $403.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AZZ shares. B. Riley increased their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

AZZ Profile

AZZ Inc provides hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions in North America. It offers metal finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot-dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, and plating to steel fabrication and other industries, as well as to fabricators or manufacturers that provide services to the transmission and distribution, bridge and highway, petrochemical, and general industrial markets; and original equipment manufacturers.