Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in AZZ Inc. by 12.8%, amounting to approximately $2.17 million after acquiring an additional 2,945 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly boosted their stakes in AZZ, including Bank of America Corp DE, which lifted its holdings by 554.6% in the fourth quarter.
• AZZ recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.20, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.80 and a yield of 0.7%.

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,960 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.09% of AZZ worth $2,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $72,279,000 after purchasing an additional 142,215 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in AZZ by 19.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 650,072 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,353,000 after acquiring an additional 105,723 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in AZZ by 554.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 251,823 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,629,000 after acquiring an additional 213,355 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in AZZ by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,694 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AZZ in the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,772,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In related news, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total value of $1,158,119.41. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,885,576.84. The trade was a 38.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total value of $558,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares in the company, valued at $2,534,324.40. This represents a 18.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,837 shares of company stock worth $5,195,318. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AZZ. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research lowered 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 on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.29.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock opened at $115.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.90 and a 12-month high of $119.95. The business's fifty day moving average price is $111.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.41.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $421.96 million for 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.27%.

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.

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