Riverwater Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AZZ by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 39.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in AZZ by 0.6% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. B. Riley raised their price objective on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Four equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AZZ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

AZZ Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $77.07 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 52.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.95 and a 200-day moving average of $86.42. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.59 and a 52-week high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.30 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued 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 0.88%. AZZ’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

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.