Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 16,194 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.10% of AZZ worth $2,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 3,790.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in AZZ in the second quarter worth about $52,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in AZZ by 51.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $100,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $83.32 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.04 and its 200 day moving average is $81.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.09, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.78 and a 12 month high of $97.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $409.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.50 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 7.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.80.

About AZZ

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.