Millennium Management LLC Has $742,000 Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 63.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 15,783 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC's holdings in AZZ were worth $742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 202.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 2,150.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in AZZ by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sidoti upgraded shares of AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.71.

AZZ Stock Up 0.8%

AZZ stock opened at $94.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.59 and a 52-week high of $99.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.78, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total value of $2,309,227.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,458 shares in the company, valued at $18,160,013.04. The trade was a 11.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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