Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 13,500 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,500 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.39% of AZZ worth $9,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,008,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 151.9% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 20,193 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 12,178 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted 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 during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 32.4% during 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 period. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AZZ. Sidoti cut shares of AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 18,851 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.91, for a total transaction of $1,694,893.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,317,295.37. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock traded down $1.92 on Friday, hitting $89.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 128,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,963. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.41. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $69.59 and a one year high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.78 million. AZZ had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 16.99%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were paid 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 0.76%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is 42.77%.

AZZ Company 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.