Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 81,999.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,339 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of AZZ worth $11,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in AZZ by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,055,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,322,000 after purchasing an additional 106,091 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 4th quarter valued at $9,715,000. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new position in AZZ in the 4th quarter worth $2,082,000. Finally, Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in AZZ in the 4th quarter worth $1,162,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $78.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.93 and a 200 day moving average of $77.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.45, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24. AZZ Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.48 and a 52 week high of $88.67.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.16. AZZ had a net margin of 7.22% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The firm had revenue of $413.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AZZ news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total transaction of $1,233,270.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,695,800. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other AZZ news, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $27,638.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,858,121.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total value of $1,233,270.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 1,511 shares of company stock valued at $52,794 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AZZ. Baird R W raised AZZ to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on AZZ in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AZZ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.80.

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.