Amundi Boosts Stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Amundi lifted its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 184.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,920 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 9,671 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in AZZ were worth $1,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in AZZ by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 202.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of AZZ by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 225.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the 3rd quarter worth about $234,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Capital raised AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock opened at $83.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.50, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $69.59 and a one year high of $99.49. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.87.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.95%.

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.