Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 2,494 Shares of AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC sold 2,494 shares of AZZ Inc., reducing its holdings by 1.1% to 224,989 shares which are valued at approximately $18.8 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• AZZ recently reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.59, and has guided for FY 2026 EPS of 5.750-6.250.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.20, representing an annual yield of 0.7%, up from the previous $0.17 dividend.

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,989 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,494 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.75% of AZZ worth $18,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in AZZ by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,749 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,110,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,999,000 after purchasing an additional 29,306 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in AZZ by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 17,934 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in 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 worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its stake in AZZ by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 13,120 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In other news, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total transaction of $1,158,119.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,885,576.84. The trade was a 38.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total transaction of $558,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,534,324.40. The trade was a 18.04% 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 valued at $5,195,318 in the last quarter. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AZZ shares. Zacks Research cut shares of AZZ from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.29.

AZZ Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:AZZ traded down $1.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $113.06. 170,812 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 284,731. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.90 and a 52 week high of $117.35. The firm's 50 day moving average is $107.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.19. AZZ had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $421.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.27%.

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.