Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stock Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 41.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,349 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in AZZ were worth $1,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in AZZ by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AZZ by 202.5% during 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AZZ by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 2,150.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

NYSE:AZZ opened at $89.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.59 and a 1 year high of $99.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 56.19 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.78 million. AZZ had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 15.30%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Sidoti lowered shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total value of $2,309,227.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,160,013.04. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.