Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.11 Million Stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,694 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 3,854 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.56% of AZZ worth $14,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its stake 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 32.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 2,150.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 35.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of AZZ in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Sidoti lowered AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, 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. Four equities 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. According to MarketBeat, AZZ currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $108.00.

AZZ Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AZZ traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $105.95. The company had a trading volume of 503,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,718. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business's 50 day moving average price is $93.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 1.24. AZZ Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.59 and a 1-year high of $113.58.

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

AZZ Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AZZ's payout ratio is 9.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the business's 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 owned 211,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,160,013.04. The trade was a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.