Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 2,284 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 42.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,284 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in AZZ were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in AZZ by 0.6% during 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 buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in AZZ by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in AZZ by 9.9% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 36.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE AZZ opened at $89.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.28, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.40. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.59 and a 1 year high of $99.49.

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

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AZZ shares. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.67.

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.