Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires New Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 30,691 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,514,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.10% of AZZ at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZZ. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in AZZ by 36.3% in the fourth 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 period. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in AZZ during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,008,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of AZZ by 151.9% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 12,178 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

AZZ Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of AZZ stock traded up $2.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $93.02. 304,828 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 222,328. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 62.85, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25. AZZ Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.59 and a 1-year high of $99.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.24.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total transaction of $2,309,227.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,160,013.04. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley boosted their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Sidoti upgraded shares of AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.71.

AZZ 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.