Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Acquires 318 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 202.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $39,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of AZZ by 13.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,223,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,284,000 after purchasing an additional 385,240 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AZZ by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,100,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,887,000 after purchasing an additional 27,710 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in AZZ during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,139,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AZZ by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 675,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,823,000 after buying an additional 10,072 shares during the period. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 1.8% in the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 666,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,018,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE AZZ opened at $90.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.72. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.59 and a twelve month high of $99.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.20, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. AZZ’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital raised AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm started coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AZZ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.