Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Acquires New Stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 49,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,037,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned 0.16% of AZZ as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in AZZ by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AZZ during the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in AZZ by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 15,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in AZZ by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 13,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services acquired a new stake in AZZ during the 3rd quarter worth about $207,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $98.59 on Thursday. AZZ Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.59 and a fifty-two week high of $99.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.62, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.08.

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

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. AZZ’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on AZZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

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.