Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC cut its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,690 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in AZZ by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 352,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,854,000 after purchasing an additional 64,023 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its stake in AZZ by 2,150.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AZZ in the fourth quarter valued at $7,500,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in AZZ in the fourth quarter valued at $3,400,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AZZ by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,584,000 after buying an additional 124,392 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 18,851 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.91, for a total value of $1,694,893.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 192,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,317,295.37. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AZZ shares. B. Riley raised their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Sidoti upgraded AZZ from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $101.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.71.

AZZ Stock Up 0.9%

AZZ opened at $91.55 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $69.59 and a one year high of $99.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.78 million. Analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

About AZZ

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.