BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 11,600 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 67.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,594 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,600 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in AZZ were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AZZ. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 202.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in 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. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in AZZ by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AZZ Trading Up 0.7%

AZZ stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $90.60. 133,408 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 222,450. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.00 and a 200-day moving average of $88.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.59 and a 1 year high of $99.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 61.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $351.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.78 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. Analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. AZZ's payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 18,851 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.91, for a total transaction of $1,694,893.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,317,295.37. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley boosted their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Sidoti raised AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.71.

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.