Summit Global Investments Acquires 2,081 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Summit Global Investments raised its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 63.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,081 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in AZZ were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZZ. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AZZ by 177.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 6,824 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 258.4% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 12,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 9,149 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 13.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,223,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,284,000 after buying an additional 385,240 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the third quarter worth about $2,039,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in AZZ by 366.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 15,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after buying an additional 11,841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Capital raised AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.67.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ opened at $86.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 58.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.53 and a 200-day moving average of $86.03. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $69.59 and a one year high of $99.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $394.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. AZZ’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is 45.95%.

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.