2,508 Shares in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Acquired by Arkadios Wealth Advisors

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors has invested approximately $210,000 in AZZ Inc., acquiring 2,508 shares of the company in the first quarter.
• AZZ's CEO, Thomas E. Ferguson, sold 26,516 shares recently, reducing his ownership by 12.64%, while the company's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.78, surpassing analyst estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, which represents an increase from the previous amount of $0.17, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,508 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AZZ by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,694 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,854 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its position in AZZ by 16.6% during the first quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in AZZ by 151.9% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 20,193 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 12,178 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in AZZ by 16,255.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,407 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 22,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in AZZ during the first quarter valued at $338,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In related news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total value of $558,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,534,324.40. This represents a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total value of $2,939,298.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. This trade represents a 12.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 36,516 shares of company stock worth $4,037,199. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sidoti lowered AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on AZZ from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $108.00.

AZZ Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AZZ traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 56,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 264,464. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business's 50 day moving average is $100.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.76. AZZ Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.90 and a 12-month high of $114.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.30.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.19. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $421,962 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.27%.

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.