Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Lowers Holdings in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,950 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in AZZ were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of AZZ by 42.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ during the second quarter valued at $16,818,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in AZZ by 96.1% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in AZZ by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 7,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. Finally, Wrapmanager Inc. purchased a new stake in AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $105.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 1.29. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $119.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.42.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $129.87 million during the quarter. AZZ had a net margin of 19.69% and a return on equity of 15.01%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were given 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 was Thursday, October 16th. AZZ’s payout ratio is 7.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of AZZ from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AZZ from $128.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.43.

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.