AZZ Inc. $AZZ Shares Sold by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank lowered its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 239 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in AZZ were worth $842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZZ. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in AZZ by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in AZZ by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its holdings in AZZ by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 17,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in AZZ by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in AZZ by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sidoti cut shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AZZ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.29.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total value of $2,939,298.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. This trade represents a 12.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total transaction of $1,158,119.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,576.84. This represents a 38.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $116.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.51. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $70.90 and a one year high of $118.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $109.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.58.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.19. The company 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%. AZZ’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

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

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.