AZZ Inc. $AZZ Shares Sold by Smith Group Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Smith Group Asset Management cut its AZZ stake by 86% in the third quarter, selling 45,091 shares and retaining 7,323 shares valued at approximately $984,000. Institutional investors collectively own 90.93% of AZZ.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with four Buy ratings and three Holds. The consensus price target is $153.20, while targets range from $145 to $174.
• AZZ exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.00 EPS versus the $1.88 consensus and revenue of $486.89 million, up 16.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share.

Smith Group Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 86.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,323 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 45,091 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings in AZZ were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in AZZ in the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AZZ in the 2nd quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in AZZ by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 593 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In other AZZ news, COO Jeffrey Vellines sold 4,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.55, for a total transaction of $647,981.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $281,610.70. The trade was a 69.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 2,677 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total value of $401,737.39. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,252,450. This trade represents a 7.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AZZ. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on AZZ from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AZZ from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on AZZ from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $153.20.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $137.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. AZZ Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.61 and a 52 week high of $162.20.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.12. AZZ had a net margin of 9.59% and a return on equity of 14.85%. The company had revenue of $486.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $467.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. AZZ's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. AZZ has set its FY 2027 guidance at 7.000-7.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 19th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 19th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.30%.

About AZZ

AZZ Inc is a provider of metal-coating solutions serving customers primarily in North America. The company operates through its Metal Coatings and Precoat Metals businesses, helping protect and enhance the performance, durability and appearance of steel and other metal products used across industrial and commercial markets.

AZZ's Metal Coatings business provides hot-dip galvanizing and other corrosion-protection services for fabricated steel products. Its offerings support infrastructure, transportation, utility, construction, industrial and agricultural applications.

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