Algert Global LLC Acquires Shares of 2,571 AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in AZZ by 202.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in AZZ by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 2,150.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of AZZ by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AZZ Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $94.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. AZZ Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.59 and a 12-month high of $99.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. AZZ’s payout ratio is 42.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 18,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,317,295.37. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.