TD Asset Management Inc Has $4.39 Million Stock Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc reduced its stake in AZZ Inc. by 13.0%, owning 52,472 shares worth approximately $4.39 million after selling 7,852 shares in the last quarter.
• A number of analysts are bullish on AZZ, with Evercore ISI raising its price target from $90 to $108 and the consensus rating being a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $108.
• AZZ recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.20 per share, up from $0.17, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders amid a strong performance with EPS surpassing analysts' expectations.

TD Asset Management Inc trimmed its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,472 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,852 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc owned about 0.18% of AZZ worth $4,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZZ. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in AZZ by 110.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in AZZ by 2,150.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in AZZ by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,298 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in AZZ by 97.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in AZZ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the business'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 value of $539,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 27,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,992,017.82. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. This represents a 12.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,367 shares of company stock worth $5,174,092. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ traded down $3.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $106.44. The company had a trading volume of 269,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,708. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.59 and a twelve month high of $114.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. AZZ's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Sidoti downgraded shares of AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $108.00.

About AZZ

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.