HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 77,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $6,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AZZ. US Bancorp DE increased its position in AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 202.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of AZZ by 50.8% in 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 during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 225.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the third quarter worth $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock opened at $83.62 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $90.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.50, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.59 and a 1 year high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. AZZ’s payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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 price objective on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Four research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.67.

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.