Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 321 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.08% of AZZ worth $1,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in AZZ by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of AZZ by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of AZZ by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in AZZ by 202.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AZZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. B. Riley upped their price objective on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

AZZ Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:AZZ opened at $84.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $90.44 and a 200 day moving average of $86.28. AZZ Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.59 and a 52 week high of $99.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.95%.

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.