Amalgamated Bank Trims Stock Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in AZZ were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AZZ. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AZZ in the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,026 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $858,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,726,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,750,000 after acquiring an additional 28,609 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock opened at $82.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.79, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.26. AZZ Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.03 and a fifty-two week high of $88.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AZZ. Baird R W upgraded shares of AZZ to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.80.

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.