16,875 Shares in AZZ Inc. $AZZ Acquired by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. invested approximately $1.41 million in AZZ Inc., acquiring 16,875 shares in the first quarter, representing about 0.06% ownership of the company.
• A recent analysis shows that AZZ has been downgraded by Sidoti to a "neutral" rating while Wells Fargo & Company upgraded it to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating mixed opinions among analysts.
• AZZ announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.17 to $0.20, with a forward annualized yield of 0.7%, reflecting the company's continued financial strategy to reward shareholders.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,875 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of AZZ at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,960 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,171,000 after buying an additional 2,945 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 185.9% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 51,122 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 33,238 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 84,076 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,030,000 after buying an additional 14,965 shares during the last quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 74,545 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,233,000 after buying an additional 4,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,488 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AZZ. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AZZ from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Sidoti lowered AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of AZZ 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,534,324.40. This trade represents a 18.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total value of $2,939,298.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 183,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. This trade represents a 12.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,837 shares of company stock worth $5,195,318. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock traded up $4.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $117.37. 113,076 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 260,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $119.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $112.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.65.

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

AZZ Increases Dividend

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

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.