Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Shares in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has invested approximately $282,000 by acquiring a new stake in AZZ Inc., purchasing 3,378 shares during the first quarter.
• AZZ Inc. recently reported earnings of $1.78 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and has also announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.20.
• Institutional investors currently hold 90.93% of AZZ's stock, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,378 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AZZ. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $223,584,000 after acquiring an additional 124,392 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,110,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,999,000 after acquiring an additional 29,306 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,279,000 after acquiring an additional 142,215 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 352,225 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $28,854,000 after acquiring an additional 64,023 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $24,419,000 after acquiring an additional 52,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AZZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Sidoti downgraded shares of 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $108.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,534,324.40. This trade represents a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total transaction of $2,939,298.60. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,516 shares of company stock worth $4,037,199 over the last ninety days. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE AZZ traded up $1.99 on Tuesday, hitting $113.55. The stock had a trading volume of 323,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,255. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $114.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $100.83 and a 200-day moving average of $92.76.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $421,962 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. AZZ had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 15.54%. AZZ's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. AZZ's payout ratio is 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.