AZZ Inc. $AZZ Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 604,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 46,070 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in AZZ were worth $57,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in AZZ by 206.7% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 39.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in AZZ by 1,121.3% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $98.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 1.29. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $119.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.45.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 earnings per share (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 analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of AZZ from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen cut AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.43.

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.