Northern Trust Corp Trims Holdings in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Northern Trust Corp decreased its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 351,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,013 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.17% of AZZ worth $29,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in AZZ by 110.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of AZZ by 140.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of AZZ by 35.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of AZZ by 97.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AZZ news, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,576.84. This represents a 38.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total transaction of $2,939,298.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,305,724.70. The trade was a 12.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318 over the last 90 days. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock opened at $113.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.02. AZZ Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.90 and a fifty-two week high of $117.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $421.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. AZZ had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from AZZ’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AZZ. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AZZ from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Sidoti downgraded shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $101.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.29.

AZZ 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.