Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Acquires 6,220 Shares of AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 11.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,220 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned about 0.20% of AZZ worth $5,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,854 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in AZZ during the first quarter valued at $347,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in AZZ during the second quarter valued at $265,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in AZZ during the second quarter valued at $592,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in AZZ by 39.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AZZ shares. B. Riley lifted their price target on AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AZZ from $128.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.43.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total transaction of $558,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,534,324.40. This represents a 18.04% decrease in their position. The sale 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 company’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 value of $1,158,119.41. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,576.84. This trade represents a 38.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AZZ Trading Up 2.7%

AZZ stock opened at $101.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.90 and a 1-year high of $119.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business 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%. Research analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is 7.69%.

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.