Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in AZZ by 2,150.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in AZZ by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in AZZ by 97.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of AZZ during the 1st quarter worth approximately $210,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZZ opened at $113.55 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $101.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.90 and a 1-year high of $114.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $421,962 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.91 million. AZZ had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 15.54%. AZZ’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from AZZ’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on AZZ from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AZZ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Sidoti cut shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total value of $2,939,298.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 183,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. This trade represents a 12.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total value of $558,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,534,324.40. The trade was a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,837 shares of company stock worth $5,195,318. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

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.