AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Shares Sold by Ballast Asset Management LP

Ballast Asset Management LP lessened its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,480 shares during the quarter. AZZ accounts for 2.8% of Ballast Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Ballast Asset Management LP owned 0.22% of AZZ worth $5,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in AZZ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,139,000. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 385,240 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the fourth quarter valued at $7,798,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AZZ during the 4th quarter valued at $7,002,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in AZZ by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,210,000 after buying an additional 68,131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital raised AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm started coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.67.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $83.77 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.41. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.59 and a twelve month high of $99.49. The company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s 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.