Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 399,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,187 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AZZ were worth $32,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,798,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new stake in AZZ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,421,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in AZZ by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 131,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,772,000 after buying an additional 8,400 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 675,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,823,000 after buying an additional 10,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE AZZ opened at $86.63 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.53, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.59 and a 12 month high of $99.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $90.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.83. 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 (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.30 million. AZZ had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 16.99%. AZZ’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AZZ. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AZZ presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.67.

AZZ Company 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.