Crown Advisors Management Inc. Sells 10,000 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Key Points

• Crown Advisors Management Inc. reduced its stake in AZZ Inc. by 28.6%, now holding 25,000 shares, which is 1.8% of its total portfolio.
• AZZ recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.20, reflecting a yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 9.27%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on AZZ, with price targets ranging from $90 to $110, while the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $108.00.

Crown Advisors Management Inc. reduced its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. AZZ makes up 1.8% of Crown Advisors Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Crown Advisors Management Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of AZZ worth $2,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 554.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 251,823 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,629,000 after buying an additional 213,355 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $72,279,000 after buying an additional 142,215 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,612,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $223,584,000 after buying an additional 124,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 19.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 650,072 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,353,000 after buying an additional 105,723 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $112.59. 366,646 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 316,950. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.10. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.90 and a 12 month high of $117.35. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $102.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $435.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AZZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In other AZZ news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares in the company, valued at $20,305,724.70. This represents a 12.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total value of $1,158,119.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,576.84. This trade represents a 38.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,837 shares of company stock worth $5,195,318 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

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.