Bank of America Corp DE Acquires Shares of 209,644 AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 209,644 AZZ shares worth approximately $32.5 million, giving it a 0.70% stake. Other institutional investors also initiated positions, and institutions collectively own 90.93% of AZZ.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with four Buy ratings and two Holds, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $155.25 price target.
• AZZ exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.85 in EPS and $448.53 million in revenue. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.24 per share, or $0.96 annually.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 209,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $32,505,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.70% of AZZ as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the second quarter worth about $14,588,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in AZZ in the second quarter valued at about $1,564,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AZZ in the second quarter valued at about $1,597,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in AZZ in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,411,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in AZZ in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,186,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of AZZ from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AZZ from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AZZ from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $155.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AZZ Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:AZZ opened at $137.16 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $143.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.59. AZZ Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.98 and a 12-month high of $162.20.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $448.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $434.58 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 11.83%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. AZZ has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.750-7.150 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. AZZ's payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

AZZ Profile

AZZ Inc NYSE: AZZ is a provider of metal coating and coil coating solutions serving industrial and infrastructure markets. The company's Metal Coatings segment offers hot-dip galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing and related finishing services designed to protect steel and other metal products from corrosion and extend their service life.

Through its Precoat Metals business, AZZ provides continuous coil coating services for flat-rolled steel and aluminum. Its coatings are used in products and applications including building materials, transportation equipment, appliances, consumer goods, packaging and other manufactured components.

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