42,541 Shares in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Bought by Crestline Management LP

Crestline Management LP purchased a new position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 42,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $3,485,000. Crestline Management LP owned approximately 0.14% of AZZ at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AZZ. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in AZZ by 39.0% during 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 during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in AZZ by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,658 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of AZZ by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,072 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was 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 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE AZZ traded up $1.93 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $93.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,893. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. 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 $84.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.11, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The company had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.78 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.