Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,220 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in AZZ were worth $5,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZZ. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in AZZ by 1,121.3% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in AZZ by 140.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 684 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total transaction of $558,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,534,324.40. This trade represents a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total value of $1,158,119.41. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,885,576.84. This represents a 38.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AZZ from $128.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. B. Riley increased their target price on AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered AZZ from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.43.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $101.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.90 and a 12 month high of $119.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $109.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.95.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $129.87 million for the quarter. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 19.69%. On average, equities research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.69%.

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.