AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Shares Acquired by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in AZZ were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 31,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,610,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its position in AZZ by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 15,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in AZZ by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 55,541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after buying an additional 25,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 33,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Down 4.3 %

AZZ stock opened at $77.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.59 and a 12 month high of $99.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 52.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.35.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $351.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.78 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. Equities 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, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sidoti upgraded shares of AZZ from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $101.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm began coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AZZ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.71.

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.