Ballast Asset Management LP Cuts Stock Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Ballast Asset Management LP decreased its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 66,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,480 shares during the period. AZZ makes up approximately 2.8% of Ballast Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ballast Asset Management LP’s holdings in AZZ were worth $5,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in AZZ by 202.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

AZZ Trading Down 0.3 %

AZZ stock opened at $83.77 on Tuesday. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.59 and a 1 year high of $99.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.60, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. AZZ’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

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

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.