Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Key Points

• Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in AZZ Inc. by 151.1% during the first quarter, owning 7,222 shares valued at approximately $604,000.
• AZZ's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $108.00 from various analysts, showing potential for future growth.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.20 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $0.17 dividend, with an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 151.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,346 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in AZZ were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of AZZ by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,676 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AZZ by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,111 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,170,000 after purchasing an additional 5,145 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in AZZ by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,745 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,372,000 after buying an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in AZZ during the fourth quarter worth $475,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in AZZ by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 11,261 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $923,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total transaction of $2,939,298.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 183,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,305,724.70. This trade represents a 12.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.98, for a total transaction of $539,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 27,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,992,017.82. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,367 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,092 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE AZZ traded down $3.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $106.44. 269,256 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,240. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $98.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.84. AZZ Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.59 and a fifty-two week high of $114.49. 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 company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 1.30.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $421,962 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AZZ's payout ratio is currently 9.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AZZ shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Sidoti cut shares of AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $108.00.

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.