Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,110,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 29,306 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 3.72% of AZZ worth $90,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE grew its stake 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 buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in AZZ by 32.4% during 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 during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position 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 worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AZZ shares. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley lifted their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Sidoti raised AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AZZ currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.71.

AZZ Stock Up 4.3 %

AZZ stock traded up $3.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $90.62. 232,579 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 228,849. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $85.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.23, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.59 and a 52-week high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. AZZ had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The business had revenue of $351.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $367.78 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total transaction of $2,309,227.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,160,013.04. This trade represents a 11.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.